Both Mathew Barzal and Sean Couturier are questionable for tonight’s Game 6 matchup between the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.
Two key pieces for both teams, Barzal left Game 5 in the third period when he took a stick in the face. Philadelphia lost Couturier in the second period when he collided awkwardly with an Islanders player. Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault doesn’t seem to think New York will be without Barzal, as he joked he looked fine in the elevator after the game. He also made comments about Brendan Gallagher’s injury in the Flyers series with the Montreal Canadiens and it turned out Gallagher had a broken jaw.
That said, the injury to Barzal is not nearly as serious. Early indications are he’s doing well; no issue with his eye. On Thursday morning, ahead of Game 6, Islanders head coach Barry Trotz labeled Barzal as a game-time decision. Leaving that information out was likely a bit of gamesmanship on his part.
The Islanders are up 3-2 in the series and will look to eliminate the Flyers and move onto the Eastern Conference Finals.
As for the Flyers, Vigneault could not (and would not) comment on Couturier’s status for Game 6.
“Like I’ve mentioned quite a few times, it’s against NHL protocol to talk about availability,” Vigneault said Thursday. “What I will say, though, throughout our season and this time here in the back to play, we’ve been of the mentality of next man up and who’s ready to play.
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