It’s now 6 straight defeats for the Philadelphia Flyers, who got shutout tonight against the New York Islanders, who took 3 of the 4 games in the season series.
Scott Mayfield scored the game’s opening goal late in the first period, before the Islanders added 2 goals in the second period to take a commanding 3-0 lead into the final frame. Brock Nelson came down the wing before depositing his snap-shot past the blocker and then Samuel Bolduc had all the time in the world to fire a shot that beat Carter Hart under the arm.
Hart was then relieved of his duties for the night as Felix Sandström started the third period and he allowed a goal to Hudson Fasching with less than 100 seconds left on the clock. Sandström only faced 3 shots as the game was well out of reach by then with neither team really forcing anything dangerous.
This win was absolutely paramount for the Islanders, who jumped ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final spot in the Wild Card race. The Florida Panthers won their game as well so they currently occupy the top spot – all 3 of whom have only 2 games left.
As for Philadelphia, the Arizona Coyotes snapped their 9-game losing streak earlier in the day and now sit 2 points back of the 26th spot, but the Flyers hold a game in hand. The Montreal Canadiens are sniffing around as well but are 3 points back and suffered another loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.
The Philadelphia Flyers entered tonight’s game on a 5-game losing streak, but for those more interested in the overall standings, with another loss and victories from the Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens, there would be a good chance at some slippage. There’s only a few games remained on the schedule so anything could happen. As for the lineup heading into tonight’s game, it was eerily similar with the sole exception of Justin Braun entering the lineup in replace of Ronnie Attard, who was sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Tony DeAngelo being scratched again. Carter Hart was in goal for his 200th career NHL game.
The New York Islanders entered tonight’s game needing a victory to stay in the suddenly tight Wild Card race. They slipped out of the second spot with a Pittsburgh Penguins victory earlier in the day against the Detroit Red Wings. They were tied with the Florida Panthers at 89 points for the final spot but were on the outside looking in, making this game that much more important with the Buffalo Sabres right on their tail as well. Mathew Barzal, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Alexander Romanov remained out of the lineup with all eyes focused on Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Bo Horvat. Ilya Sorokin got his 6th consecutive start and was looking for his 30th win on the season.
FIRST PERIOD
In typical fashion, a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders featured good fore-checking, clogging of the neutral zone, and some random outbursts of odd-man rushes, but the first 14+ minutes featured no goals with the Flyers leading the shot chart with a 10-4 advantage.
However, it was the Islanders who struck first with 5:41 remaining after jumping on a turnover. Scott Mayfield’s point shot with 5-6 bodies in front of the goaltender, travelled through the screen before redirecting a few ties as it fooled Carter Hart for a late-period lead.
Scott Laughton and van Riemsdyk each failed to clear the puck, which kept them on the ice for well over a minute. Wade Allison then lost a battle behind the net to Simon Holmström, who set up Mayfield’s point shot that was eventually deflected off of James van Riemsdyk before going into the back of the net.
The Islanders almost took a 2-0 lead with 5 seconds left as Cal Clutterbuck was allowed to just walk in on Carter Hart, but the young netminder made a huge blocker save to keep the deficit at 1. The last thing the Flyers needed was another backbreaking late period goal – a la Dallas game on Thursday. The Islanders took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission with the Flyers leading the shot totals 15-8.
SECOND PERIOD
With 12:10 remaining in the second period, Brock Nelson’s shot off the rush beat Carter Hart blocker-side for his 34th goal of the season and 5th in his last 7 games.
Noah Dobson started the play from below his own goal-line with a perfect stretch pass to their leader goal-scorer with a lot of ice in front of him to work with. Noah Cates tried to catch him but he was carrying too much momentum before ripping it past the blocker.
With 9:49 left in the period, Rasmus Ristolainen was whistled for a hooking minor, sending the Islanders out for the first power play of the game. With 6 seconds left on the man advantage, Zach Parise looked to have batted the puck out of the air and passed Carter Hart for an unassailable 3-0 lead midway through the period. It was immediately ruled a goal, emphatic to boot, but upon further review it was deflected with his stick being above the crossbar, keeping the score at 2-0.
It didn’t matter all that much with the Islanders re-taking a 3-0 lead with 4:49 left in the period. Samuel Bolduc walked into the offensive zone with speed and fired a hard shot from the faceoff dot underneath Hart’s arm blocker side for his 2nd of the season.
Sorokin made a pad save and the rebound was corralled by Simon Holmström who backhanded a pass off the boards to Bo Horvat who entered the zone, stopped on a dime, before finding Bolduc as the trailer man.
The Islanders added 2 goals in the second period and outshot the Flyers 10-4 as they inched closer to a much needed 2 points in their race for the Wild Card spot.
THIRD PERIOD
To start the third period, John Tortorella opted to replace Carter Hart for Felix Sandström. His first test came in the first minute when Kyle Palmieri was sprung on a breakaway but hit the crossbar on his attempt.
The penalties started flowing in the third period. 4:25 into the period, Kyle Palmieri was guilty for a tripping minor, sending the Flyers out on their first power play of the night. The Flyers had a few chances but nothing came out of it as usual. Then with 10:52 left, Brendan Lemieux was called for a hooking minor, that the Flyers returned the favour by killing it off with relative ease. Noah Dobson was then guilty for a high sticking minor at the 14:12 mark of the third to no avail.
With 99 seconds left on the clock, Hudson Fasching finished off a one-timer to make it 4-0.
Noah Dobson set this up with a bank pass off the boards to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who neatly stayed onside by allowing the puck to roll through his legs, while having a skate in the air as he entered the zone, before feeding Fasching for his 8th of the season.
That was all she wrote as the Flyers got shutout for the 6th time this season as Sorokin was able to save all 27 shots thrown his way for a commanding 4-0 victory that put them back in the driver’s seat for a Wild Card spot.
UP NEXT
The Flyers host the Boston Bruins tomorrow night at Wells Fargo Center (6:00pm ET, TNT) in the second leg of their back-to-back set.
