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Flyers-Islanders Game 1: TV, odds, streaming info and notes

The Flyers are slight favorites to win the series opener and continue to be around 6-1 to win the Stanley Cup.

Getting pucks to the net and traffic in front of Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, like Nic Aube-Kubel is doing here, is one of the keys to this series.
Getting pucks to the net and traffic in front of Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, like Nic Aube-Kubel is doing here, is one of the keys to this series.Read moreKathy Willens / AP

The opener for the first playoff series between the Flyers and Islanders in more than three decades is set for tonight. Here are the details:

What: Game 1, Eastern Conference semifinals

When: Tonight, 7 p.m.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto

TV: NBCSN. Radio: 97.5-FM The Fanatic. Streaming: NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app.

History lesson: This will be the first postseason meeting since the 1987 Patrick Division Finals when the Flyers beat the Isles in seven. New York forced Game 7 after being down 3-1. The Flyers scored three goals in the first period of the finale, including shorthanded tallies by Brian Propp and Brad Marsh 44 seconds apart. Philadelphia also beat the Isles in 1975 and 1985, but the Isles won the 1980 Stanley Cup by beating the Flyers in six games. ... The Islanders won all three meetings this season -- twice in regulation, once in a shootout.

Five things:

  1. The Flyers were 1-for-8 on the power-play against the Islanders during the season. New York was 1-for-6.

  2. The Islanders had been staying at the Fairmont Royal York, but moved to Hotel X over the weekend to join the rest of the Eastern Conference semifinalists sequestered in Toronto. “We’ve seen quite a few teams heading out, so we’re happy to still be here,” said Brock Nelson, who centers the Islanders’ dangerous “B-line alongside Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier.

» Is Derek Toews related to Jonathan Toews: 20 things to know about the Islanders

  1. Claude Giroux (2010), Jake Voracek (2012) and Kevin Hayes (2015, Rangers) have scored playoff overtime goals in their careers. The Flyers have played 27 playoff games since their last overtime, a 2012 loss in Game 3 of the conference semis to New Jersey. Alex Ponikarovsky scored for the Devils.

  2. For New York, Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal, Derick Brassard, Andrew Ladd and Jean-Gabriel Pageau have scored OT goals in the playoffs.

  3. Pageau, playing for Ottawa at the time, had four goals in a 2017 playoff game against Alain Vigneault’s Rangers. Two in the final four minutes to force the overtime (one with the goal pulled) and the scored the winner three minutes into the second OT. The Sens won the series in six.

» Video: What a night for Jean-Gabriel Pageau

From the sportsbooks: FanDuel and William Hill (-120) had the smallest odds for the Flyers to win Game 1 of a handful of bookies sampled by the Inquirer on Monday morning. The Flyers are around -130 to win the series. FanDuel also had them at 7-1 to win the Stanley Cup. The other houses were between 6-1 to 6.5-1. The Islanders are 10-1 to win the Cup.

Numerology: Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven have gone on to win 68.8% of NHL series. In this year’s first round, Game 1 winners went 7-1 for the series. Dallas was the only team to lose its opener and rally to win the series.

Final word: ”Could have been easy to just get frustrated and try to go on our own page,” said Sean Couturier, one of several key Flyers held without a goal against Montreal. “We stuck together through adversity in that first round and came out on top. Now we just have to stick together again and build off that first round. Obviously find that other level.”