New York Islanders vs Philadelphia Flyers Picks and Predictions January 16th 2025

Flyers, Islanders Meet in Crucial Eastern Conference Clash

With both teams fighting to stay in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders will face off on Thursday night in Elmont, N.Y.

Playoff Race Tightens

The Flyers (44 points) are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Despite holding a one-goal lead in the third period after Owen Tippett’s go-ahead goal, Philadelphia allowed Columbus to force overtime and ultimately lost in the shootout. The result prevented the Flyers from making up ground in the playoff race, where they trail the Blue Jackets (48 points), as well as the Senators (47 points) and Canadiens (46 points).

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The loss snapped Philadelphia’s modest two-game winning streak, which included an impressive 4-3 comeback victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday. Flyers coach John Tortorella admitted that fatigue may have played a role in Tuesday’s game but still felt his team missed a valuable opportunity.

“We put a lot of gas in our game (Monday) night,” Tortorella said. “Frustrating for me because we had a chance to win this one. We (gave) it away a little bit at the end, but we’ll just take the point and go.”

Islanders’ Offensive Woes Continue

The Islanders, meanwhile, are in a much more dire position. Their 2-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday snapped a three-game winning streak and left them seven points behind the Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot. New York currently sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division and second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres.

Tuesday’s loss highlighted New York’s continued offensive struggles. The Islanders have now gone 14 consecutive games without a power-play goal (0-for-25), the longest drought in franchise history. Their inability to capitalize on scoring chances has been a season-long issue, as they’ve now been held to one goal or fewer in 14 games.

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“We have to respond to this,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We should have had more urgency than what we did. Sometimes, you have to dig (for) those ones, and for some reason, we did not.”

Key Factors to Watch

• Flyers’ Energy Levels: Philadelphia played a physical back-to-back earlier this week. Can they recover in time to take advantage of a struggling Islanders team?
• Islanders’ Power Play Woes: New York desperately needs to break its 14-game power-play drought to get its offense back on track.
• Defensive Battle: Both teams rank in the middle of the pack in goals allowed, meaning this game could be a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair.

With both teams in desperate need of points, expect a hard-fought battle as they look to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race.