The Philadelphia Flyers dropped their second game in regulation in as many nights as they couldn’t escape Long Island with a victory.
The New York Islanders extended their winning streak to 3 games with a solid effort that was encapsulated by the goaltending of Ilya Sorokin and 2 goals scored in a 55-second span near the end of the first period.
Tyson Foerster opened the scoring in the first period before Anthony Duclair and Bo Horvat combined for tallies in less than a minute to not only quell the Flyers momentum but create their own.
Brock Nelson then added a backbreaking tally in the second period to give the Islanders a commanding 2-goal with the way Sorokin was seeing the puck. The Russian netminder made 28 saves as he claimed his 15th win of the season.
Ivan Fedotov didn’t play bad by any means, however Nelson’s goal looked a little soft and Duclair’s tally could’ve been handled better. Nevertheless he allowed 3 goals on 27 shots as he continues to search for his first victory since the end of November.
Coming off the heels of a disappointing 6-1 defeat to the New York Rangers, the Flyers were right back at it against the Islanders to finish off the road back-to-back set.
The Flyers made one change to their lineup as Erik Johnson was inserted into the lineup in lieu of Egor Zamula, who was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. The veteran defenseman had been out of the lineup for nearly 2 months and with his return to the lineup, the Flyers jumbled their pairs as Travis Sanheim was with Jamie Drysdale, Cam York with Rasmus Ristolainen, and Johnson with Nick Seeler.
Ivan Fedotov earned the start as he looked for his first win since the 29th of November – a span of 4 games. He made 26 saves on 28 shots his last time out against Columbus in what was a tough shootout loss.
As for the Islanders, they entered Friday’s contest having won back to back games and gaining some steam in the wild-card race with anywhere between 2 and 4 games in on hand on everyone else.
Ilya Sorokin earned the start as he looked to improve on his 14-14-4 record, 2.81 GAA, and .902 SV%. Offensively they were paced by captain Anders Lee and his 20 goals and 36 points, Bo Horvat’s 16 goals and 35 points, and Kyle Palmieri’s 12 goals and 29 points.
FIRST PERIOD
After what was a physical game their last time out when Maxim Tsyplakov injured Ryan Poehling, Alexander Romanov stepped up with a huge check on Cam York in the slot, which prompted an immediate response from Travis Konecny. The club’s leading scorer was assessed the only penalty on the play, which was a roughing minor.
Fortunately the Flyers were able to take care of business against the league’s worst power play that was clicking at a 12.50% clip entering Friday’s play.
With 5:46 remaining in the first period, Tyson Foerster snapped his 9-game goal drought after wiring a hard shot off an odd-man rush. Erik Johnson did a great job at corralling the puck from a scrum along the boards as he shovelled a pass to Konecny who then banked it off the boards, which prompted the 2-on-1.
He was looking shot all the way despite having Morgan Frost opposite him as he collected his 14th goal of the season.
A few minutes later at the 17:08 mark of the period, Anthony Duclair ended his 10-game goal drought after firing his shot blocker-side on Ivan Fedotov. It was a great sequence as Kyle Palmeiri launched a backhanded saucer pass to Brock Nelson from the neutral zone. Nelson then found Duclair with a quick pass as he made no mistake for his 4th of the season.
Then just 55 seconds later Mathew Barzal set up Bo Horvat for the go-ahead goal on another odd-man rush. The Flyers failed to get the puck in deep, which allowed Romanov to send a stretch pass to Barzal who then fed it to Horvat, who made easy work with Fedotov standing no chance.
The period came to a crashing end for the Flyers who played a relatively sharp first 20 minutes. The shots were tied at 6-apiece as the Islanders took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The Flyers jumped onto their first power play of the night at the 10:10 mark with Nelson getting the gate for a slashing minor. The Islanders, who also owned a paltry penalty killing unit, were able to make easy work of the Flyers man advantage as the score remained 2-1.
Perhaps riding the momentum of a strong penalty kill, Nelson added to his ledger with his 14th goal of the season after the Islanders caught the Flyers snoozing from their own zone. Adam Pelech launched an outlet pass off the boards which was gathered by Nelson after a pinching Jamie Drysdale was negated in the neutral zone.
Nelson walked in and made very easy work as Fedotov was soundly beaten low-glove with 6:04 remaining.
With 3:29 remaining, Sean Couturier headed to the box for a cross-checking minor but ended up with the best scoring chance after he came out. Unfortunately the captain remained snake bitten as Sorokin shut the door on his in-tight opportunity to take a 2-goal lead into the intermission.
The Islanders took a 13-7 edge in shots during the middle frame as well as a 19-14 lead through the first 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
The Flyers came out with a lot more gumption but as has been the case for most of his career, Sorokin had all the answers despite the high danger chances and odd man rushes. The Russian netminder entered the contest with a career record of 9-3-2 against the Flyers to go along with a 1.68 GAA, .943 SV%, and 3 shutouts.
With 12:47 remaining in regulation, Rasmus Ristolainen got the gate for an interference minor, sending the Islanders to their third power play of the night at a very critical juncture of the game. The Islanders were extremely patient but it didn’t lead to much of anything offensively as the Flyers survived.
The Flyers pulled Fedotov with 3:08 remaining and despite being in the offensive zone for nearly 2 whole minutes, they were unable to register a shot on goal. They came back in the offensive zone after the puck was initially cleared out but only found a way to get one shot towards Sorokin as they slumped to their second straight loss.
UP NEXT
The Flyers return home on Monday night to face the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center (7:00pm; NBCSP).
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