The Philadelphia Flyers finally won a game and comprehensibly as well as they took down the New York Islanders by a score of 3-1 in the second half of their home and home.
It was one of the few complete games the Flyers have played all season as they kept the comeback kids at bay in the third period especially, outshooting them 12-7 and 33-24 as a whole.
Kevin Hayes scored the game winning goal midway through the first period and then iced it with an empty netter with 33 seconds left. Travis Sanheim’s shorthanded goal seemed to have quelled the Islanders early momentum after they scored the opening goal on the power play courtesy of Noah Dobson. Carter Hart made 23 saves, Lukas Sedlak recorded 2 assists, and Ivan Provorov was definitely a standout without his partner in crime in Tony DeAngelo as he played 24:50 while recording an assist, 3 shots, 2 hits, 3 blocks, and was a plus 2.
Looking to exact revenge for their 5-2 defeat on Saturday night against the Islanders, the Flyers entered tonight’s tilt with Scott Laughton and Egor Zamula returning to the lineup and Tony DeAngelo and Patrick Brown making their way out. DeAngelo is dealing with a lower body injury while Brown was a healthy scratch with Laughton making his way back. John Tortorella kept most of the lines intact from last game with Lukas Sedlak centering the top line alongside Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee, Noah Cates was centering Scott Laughton and Zack MacEwen, Kieffer Bellows was back with Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, and Nicolas Deslauriers, Tanner Laczynski, and Max Willman constituted the fourth line.
On defense, Ivan Provorov was paired with Rasmus Ristolainen, Justin Braun who was the odd man out yesterday with Zamula being called up was placed with Travis Sanheim, and Zamula was paired with Nick Seeler. Carter Hart returns in between the pipes after being pulled mid-game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday and Ilya Sorokin returned in goal after making way for Semyon Varlamov on Saturday.
There was a thought that there could be some carryover from the third period from their last game as they combined for 46 PIMs in the third period and a lot of dropped gloves, and that was something to keep an eye on for a Flyers power play that is was 2 for their last 29 during their 10-game losing streak as well as only being able to kill 16 of their last 27 penalties against.
FIRST PERIOD
All it took was 7 seconds to get the temperature rising as Zack MacEwen and Matt Martin dropped their gloves in a very spirited bout that ended with #17 in orange taking down #17 in white.
One second later, on the next faceoff, Ross Johnston and Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves as well in another heavyweight tilt that favoured the Orange and Black with another takedown.
2:02 later, former Islander Kieffer Bellows was called for a slashing minor, allowing a red-hot Islanders power play an opportunity to take an early lead. 37 seconds later, Rasmus Ristolainen was then called for an interference minor after shoving Anders Lee three times before the whistle was finally blown, giving them a 2-man advantage for 1:23.
It only took the Islanders 25 seconds to connect as Noah Dobson ripped a one-timer from the point after some pretty passing. There was a lot of quick movement, pitch-and-catch going on at the top of the umbrella before Mathew Barzal deftly one-touched it over to Dobson who crunched one blocker-side on Hart for his 7th of the season.
With 10 seconds remaining on the second penalty, Travis Sanheim scored the second shorthanded goal of the season for the Flyers as well as his second goal of the season. Noah Cates tried centering the pass initially and although the Islanders got a stick to it, Sanheim followed it and whacked it over the arm of Sorokin.
With 10:15 remaining in the period, Kevin Hayes scored his team-high 7th goal of the season off the faceoff dot. The Flyers actually won a faceoff and as the puck bounced over Anthony Beauvillier’s stick, Hayes corralled the puck and ripped one over the glove of Sorokin for the 2-1 lead – Lukas Sedlak recorded his second assist of the period off the faceoff win.
1:36 later, Morgan Frost drew a hooking minor on Oliver Wahlstrom after disrupting his offensive opportunity in the slot. For a power play that had gone goalless in 5, 0 for their last 14, and without DeAngelo, they created several scoring chances, hemmed the Islanders in their own zone, and tested Sorokin with some really good chances.
After a very fast paced start to the game, the Flyers were able to slow it down to their pace as they entered the first intermission with a 2-1 lead – a first period for the second time this season. They out-shot the Islanders 12-9, out-hit them 18-7, and really kept the Islanders at bay after they surrendered the shorthanded goal.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period started with 2 minutes of 4-on-4 hockey after Sedlak and Adam Pelech each received 2 minutes for roughing. The Flyers almost took advantage of the open ice as Hayes walked in on a breakaway but made one too many moves on Sorokin who look beat at first but was able to get his skate back in time as Hayes couldn’t finish it off for his second goal of the game.
The chances kept coming from the Orange and Black as Kieffer Bellows, Tanner Laczynski, and Max Willman were all over the Russian netminder who had to remain sharp, keeping the score at 2-1.
It wasn’t a recorded shot on goal but the first shot attempt of the period for the Islanders came from Scott Mayfield who rang it off the post 5:13 into the period. With 11:23 left in the second period, Willman was called for a hooking minor that took place in his own zone as Ryan Pulock was trying to clear the puck around the boards. The red-hot Islanders power play had their chances, one of them hit the post, but Carter Hart was able to corral the remaining attempts to keep the score at as is.
With 34 seconds remaining in the second period, Adam Pelech was called for an interference minor against Morgan Frost, quelling their momentum that saw them out-attempt the Flyers 12-1 in the final 12 minutes. Lukas Sedlak, trying to take full advantage of the extra ice time and offensive opportunities, made a nifty move into the blue paint of Sorokin but his shot was stopped by the pad. The puck squeaked through the five-hole that took some time for anyone to locate and as the Flyers cycled around and set-up again, Ivan Provorov’s slap-shot was blocked by Scott Mayfield, ending the period.
The Flyers headed into the intermission with a 2-1 lead, outshooting the Islanders 21-17, outhitting them 29-23, but should’ve been wary of the comeback capabilities of the 2022-23 Islanders, who have 8 wins of the comeback variety and 5 specifically in the third period.
THIRD PERIOD
The Flyers, poised to end this 10-game winless streak, started the third period on the power play but couldn’t find the back of the net. They continued the pressure even after the penalty had expired as Kieffer Bellows hit the post, and then a few moments later Sedlak was absolutely robbed trying to convert on a juicy rebound.
The Islanders had their moments as well shortly after these opportunities as Anthony Beauvillier had an open net to shoot at but Egor Zamula came to the rescue with two huge blocks after Nick Seeler made the initial block. Carter Hart tried lunging at the first shot by Beauvillier and looked a little dinged up after the play, however he remained in the game.
With just under 6 minutes remaining in regulation and the Flyers holding onto a 2-1 lead, the Islanders were not able to muster up much of anything as they were being outshot 10-3 in the final frame up and hadn’t recorded one for nearly 10 minutes. The neutral zone was being clogged up, the Flyers were able to cycle quickly and get the puck out of the zone, but with 5:47 remaining Owen Tippett was called for a high-sticking minor. Kept to the outside the entire time, the Islanders fired their first of two shots on goal with 33 seconds left on the power play.
The Islanders pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker with 2:08 left in the third period but were not able to get anything going as the Flyers’ forechecking and defense was on full display – not only during this shift but the game as a whole.
With 33 seconds left, Kevin Hayes scored his second goal of the game, 8th of the season, and the third Flyers goal of the game as they were able to ice this one with the empty netter and end this lengthy losing streak with a very complete effort from start to finish.
UP NEXT
The Flyers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night as they continue their homestand in the midst of a very tough stretch in their schedule.
