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Wrap: Flyers Beat Islanders, 4-1

March 3, 2019, 10:14 PM ET [253 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Beat Islanders, 4-1

A combination of team-wide hard work, excellent goaltending by Brian Elliott, and a dose of puck luck lifted a shorthanded Philadelphia Flyers team to a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

The Flyers were without key right winger Jakub Voracek (lower-body injury, underwent MRI) and had to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Early in the game, they were down to 10 forwards when Nolan Patrick suffered an ear laceration when struck by the puck while he was down along the ice. He did not return to the game.

Early in the third period, with the Flyers leading 4-0, Travis Konecny took exception to a high hit along the boards by New York's Jordan Eberle. Konecny received seven minutes worth penalties (two for cross-checking, five for fighting), temporarily leaving Philly down to nine forwards. The Flyers killed the minor penalty but, shortly thereafter, center Scott Laughton received a high sticking minor. Thus, for a two-minute stretch, Philly only had only six forwards on the bench apart from the two on the ice who were killing the penalty at a given time.

To their credit, the Flyers rolled with the punches throughout the day. They found ways to get the better of an Islanders team that came in with the NHL's lowest team GAA and tied for first place in the Metro Division.

The Flyers got goals from Konecny (21st) and Travis Sanheim (9th) as they took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission. The lead doubled in the middle frame on goals by Scott Laughton (4th) and Sean Couturier (27th). Philly did a good overall shutdown job in the third period despite New York getting one goal back in the final five minutes.

Flyers team captain Claude Giroux hit the 50-assist milestone for the fifth season in his NHL career, chipping in a pair of helpers (50th and 51st) on the afternoon. The Flyers also received one assist apiece from Radko Gudas (13th of the season, 100th career NHL point), Robert Hägg (12th), Michael Raffl (10th) and Oskar Lindblom (14th).' Ivan Provorov did not record a point but was a game-high plus-four and had two shots on goal and two blocks in 23:46 of ice time.

In net, Brian Elliott was outstanding. He made quite a few difficult saves and was on top of his angles and rebounds throughout most of the day. Elliott took second-star honors with 29 saves on 30 shots.

New York's Adam Pelech (4th goal of the season) ended Elliott's shutout bid late in the game. Andrew Ladd (7th) and Josh Bailey (35th) assisted.

Robin Lehner, who has otherwise been lights out on home ice this season, was pulled after 23:18 of work following Laughton's goal. He stopped 10 of 13 shots. Thomas Greiss went the rest of the way in relief, stopping 12 of 13 salvos.

All penalties in the game took place in the third period. The Flyers were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play.

After an early blitz by the Islanders -- it took the Flyers six minutes to generate a shot attempt and 6:55 to put their first shot on goal -- Philly started to come on. After a Lehner denied a Grade A scoring chance for Ryan Hartman (15:05 TOI, two shots, two hits), the Flyers scored on their next opportunity at 8:21.

Gudas eluded forechecking pressure and made a long pass up to Konecny. From there, Konecny beat a defender, cut in toward the net and chipped a goal high to the short side to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

The lead became 2-0 at 14:59 of the first period. Giroux cleanly won a right offensive circle faceoff and Sanheim put a shot on net. The rebound came out to the right slot and set there for a couple seconds as neither Flyers nor the Islanders players tying them up could get to it. Finally, Sanheim powered past Anthony Beauvillier and scored upstairs on his own rebound.

Philly built a 3-0 lead -- and chased Lehner -- at 3:18 of the second period. Raffl and Laughton won a battle behind the net. With two Islanders still engaged behind the net, Laughton stepped out front and got off a shot. Lehner stopped that one but Laughton scored on a second-chance opportunity near the net.

With Greiss now in the net, the Flyers made it 4-0 at 15:14 of the second period. From just inside the Islanders' zone, Giroux backhanded a pass to Lindblom. From the right circle, Lindblom put the puck across toward Couturier, who was crashing the net. The puck went off Beauvillier's skate then off Couturier's leg and inside the post for a goal.

Shots through 40 minutes were 24-21 in the Islanders' favor. Elliott stepped up huge numerous times but also got a little help when he needed it -- in one case from teammate Phil Varone stealing a goal with a diving play, and from his goal post on another near goal.

In the third period, the Flyers did a good job at limiting New York's chances (despite their two power plays). Shots were 6-5 in the Isles favor. Pelech finally scored from in close to cut the deficit to three goals, but the Islanders drew no closer.

With the win, the Flyers improved to 32-26-8 on the season and 17-4-2 over their last 23 games. On this day, Philly gained ground on every team they are chasing in the playoff race. The team just ahead of them and just below the playoff cutoff line, the Columbus Blue Jackets, lost 5-2 in regulation to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. The Flyers are four points (three standings points, 36-30 ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Blue Jackets. Columbus holds one game in hand.

The Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins were all idle on Sunday.
As a result, the Flyers are six points (five standings points, 33-30 ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) behind Montreal for the lower wildcard seed in the East. Philly is also six points (five standings points, 33-30 ROW disadvantage) behind Pittsburgh for the upper wildcard. However, the Penguins have one game in hand on the Flyers. Philly is seven points (six standings points, 35-30 ROW disadvantage) behind Carolina for third place in the Metro.

The Flyers, who have 16 games remaining, would need to go about 12-3-1 over their remaining matches (which would give the team 97 points) to have a realistic shot at landing a wildcard spot. The upcoming week will see the Flyers host the Metro leading Washington Capitals on Wedneday night and then return to Long Island for a rematch with the Islanders next Saturday night.

Before that, Philly will take an off-day on Monday on the heels of playing three times in four nights (and four times in six nights). The team will practice on Tuesday in Voorhees.
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