Being up 2-0 in the first period against a New York Islanders team that has given the Philadelphia Flyers issues for years was a great way to try and break out of a 12 game losing streak. However, when it rains it pours and the Flyers never seized momentum or control at any moment tonight and the Islanders erased a 2 goal deficit and took down the Flyers for their 13th straight loss, 4-3.
FIRST PERIOD
The mantra of scoring the first goal in a game has been beaten like a drum over the course of this long losing streak and their entire season; Understandably so as the Flyers are 11-2-5 when scoring the first goal. Facing the Ilya Sorokin and the NHL’s best team in terms of save percentage, it was going to be a tall task but fortunately Claude Giroux opened the scoring only 57 seconds in.
On a similar looking goal scored against Sorokin last week by Travis Konecny, the Flyers got a fortuitous bounce with a bad angle shot. Giroux beat Adam Pelech to the puck in the corner, and seemingly waited a little until he saw some day light between his pads. For a team that was lacking confidence, goals, and shots, they got all 3 from one simple play.
What’s better than a one-goal lead? How about a 2 goal lead? The Flyers needed to desperately simplify their game, especially considering their lack of chances, goals, and offensive time of possession. Just like the first goal of the game, the Flyers just got the puck to the net as Justin Braun’s blast from the point hit Andy Greene’s skate and past Sorokin.
James van Riemsdyk’s hustle to the net after digging the puck loose from a scrum in the corner had Andy Greene preoccupied on the man rather than the puck. Cam Atkinson, who got the puck from van Riemsdyk’s hard work, sent the puck around for Braun to blast away and the Flyers all of a sudden carried a 2 goal lead.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, their 2 goal lead lasted only 49 seconds as the Islanders followed suit. Noah Dobson’s point shot through a heavy screen of Oliver Wahlstrom and Keith Yandle got past Martin Jones to cut the lead in half. It all started off an offensive zone face-off win as the Islanders cycled the puck brilliantly.
Dobson sent the puck around for Zach Parise who easily outmuscled Cam York. He then slotted the puck to Jean Gabriel Pageau who feathered it to the point man Zdeno Chara, who played pitch and catch with Dobson. His shot initially looked like it was deflected by Wahlstrom, however he jumped and got out of the way at the last second as Yandle and Jones both looked confused as to what had occurred.
Even though the Flyers had a 2 goal lead, they weren’t controlling play and the Islanders essentially picked up momentum after Giroux’s opening goal. Coming out of their own defensive zone, with every Islander touching the puck, Josh Bailey deflected a pass from Dobson out of the zone to Matthew Barzal. His speed was unmatched for Zach MacEwan as he was able to brush him off and find Anders Lee with a beautiful pass as Lee finished it off on the one-timer.
The Islanders had most of the pressure, momentum, and offensive zone time in the first period, however they only had 2 shots in the final 10:30; but in the cruelest form of fate for the hapless Flyers, they both ended up in the back of the net.
SECOND PERIOD
Just over a minute into the second period, the Flyers looked dangerous with an odd man rush and looked to have scored. Travis Konecny found Oskar Lindblom in the slot and his shot was stopped but Morgan Frost, hustling to the front of the net, batted the puck in with his glove. It was quickly waved off as it was distinctly an illegal goal as Frost scored with his glove.
Not being able to control the Islanders momentum, the Flyers were guilty of a delay of game penalty from Zack MacEwen. They were able to survive the first Islanders power play without giving up a shot but the second power play struck quickly. Pinpoint passing from the Islanders commenced as they started playing tic-tac-toe with the Flyers’ penalty kill. Brock Nelson in the corner passed it to Zach Parise at the goal mouth, then he dished it to Mathew Barzal on the opposite side wide open for the go-ahead goal.
The Islanders were relentless during the second period and unlike the first frame, they ran up the shot chart but Martin Jones kept the Flyers in the game as best as he could. The shots were 14-4 in the second period and 23-12 after 40, but the score could’ve easily been 5-2 had Jones not stepped up, especially on the third Islanders power play.
THIRD PERIOD
The one Flyer that has been noticeable, not only tonight but in the last few games as well, struck early in the third period to level the score. Playing 4 on 4 due to period-ending coincidental minors, Gerry Mayhew gloved down the rebound from Scott Laughton’s initial shot, took it to the corner and beat out Nelson, he then danced around Noah Dobson and went top shelf on Sorokin, only 1:30 into the third period.
Shortly after, the Flyers were awarded their first power play since the third period against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Bad zone entries, no offensive zone time, and lack of chances were themes of yet another power play to start things off. The Islanders in fact had more time of possession and even a few shots on goal.
After doing a pretty good job killing off Morgan Frost’s delay of game penalty, the Flyers and more specifically Scott Laughton had a very good scoring opportunity with the penalty winding down. Instead of taking the direct shot that he had, he tried to make a move, which was one too many and the Islanders countered the other way and took the lead.
Justin Braun and Ivan Provorov sort of let Brock Nelson enter the zone without much pressure and since the Islanders were up a man at the start of this rush, the Flyers were caught flat footed once Nelson dropped the pass to Anthony Beauvillier who found Zach Parise for a one timer as the Islanders took a 4-3 lead.
With a little over 2 minutes to go in the game, Mike Yeo pulled his netminder but to no avail as the Flyers failed to create chances as they slumped to their 13th straight defeat. They started off as well as they have in months, scoring the game’s first 2 goals, but the Islanders seized momentum after Giroux opened things up and that’s saying something, considering that was only 57 seconds in.
UP NEXT
Up next for the Flyers are the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.
