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Wrap: Flyers Dismantle Islanders, 5-2

March 9, 2019, 11:13 PM ET [217 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Dismantle Islanders, 5-2

Solid overall team defense, strong goaltending when needed, hard work in the trenches and feasting off New York Islanders' mistakes propelled the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-2 win in Uniondale on Saturday night. Playing each other twice in New York in a span of six nights, the Flyers outscored the Islanders by a combined, 9-3.

Philly trailed first in the game on a fluke goal that Corban Knight accidentally deflected into his own net. They bounced right back to tie the game and then a goal in the final 3.7 seconds of the first period sent the Flyers to the locker room with a 2-1 lead. Philly scored three times on five shots in a second period that included a lengthy 5-on-3 penalty kill, extending the lead to 5-1. New York had a three-minute power play in the third period and scored a late third-period goal but drew no closer.

Jakub Voracek, in his first game back after a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury, was in beast mode throughout Saturday's game. He was excellent on the forecheck, heavy on the puck, earned two primary assists on nice plays up ice, and ornery as well.

In the third period, Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk steamed in toward Voracek with the puck in the Flyers zone. Rather than absorbing a big check, Voracek instead delivered a heavy hit of his own. Because the puck was not there, Voracek received an interference penalty, and because Boychuk sustained an apparent shoulder injury on the play, the refs made it a major.

The Flyers received goals from Ryan Hartman (11th of the season, 1st as a Flyer), James van Riemsdyk (20th), Sean Couturier (28th), Nolan Patrick (13th) and Travis Konecny (22nd). Travis Sanheim ( 21st and 22nd assists) combined with Voracek to set up the JVR and Couturier goals. Claude Giroux collected his 53rd helper of the season, while Philly also got one assist apiece from Ivan Provorov (18th, plus-eight in the two recent games against the Isles), van Riemsdyk (17th), and Scott Laughton (16th). Shayne Gostisbehere (23rd and 24th) had two assists.

Brian Elliott bounced back from a rough game against Washington on Wednesday. He earned the win with 25 saves on 27 shots, and authored some key momentum saves in the second period especially. One shot on the Isles' 5-on-3 eventually dribbled past Elliott into the net but the whistle had already blown.

New York got goals from Scott Mayfield (4th) and Nick Leddy (3rd). Mathew Barzal picked up his 37th and 38th assists of the season, while Leddy (21st assist) and Ryan Pulock (25th assist) earned one helper apiece.

Thomas Greiss started the game and went the first two periods, stopping only 10 of 15 shots. Christopher Gibson mopped up in the third period, stopping all 10 shots he faced including a JVR breakaway with the teams skating 4-on-4 on the front end of the Voracek major.

The Flyers went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, spanning an overlapping 1:34 two-man kill and the the final three minutes of the Voracek major. Philly was 0-for-2 on their own power plays.

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead at 6:30 of the first period. Knight's stick tipped Mayfield's point shot downward and redirected it past a helpless Elliott. Barzal and Leddy got the helpers.

Philly tied the game at 1-1 at 15:20. Provorov made a nice play in the offensive zone, getting the puck to Hartman for a scoring chance. Hartman then immediately followed up his own rebound to knot the score. Gostisbehere collected the secondary apple.

At 19:57 of the first period, the Flyers took a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Sanheim made a tape-to-tape pass to Voracek on entry, and Voracek put the puck on the net. An unmarked JVR was there to quickly stash home the loose puck.

Philly struck again 94 seconds into the second period, once again with Sanheim and Voracek setting things up for a chance in the attack zone. With Sanheim taking a defender to the net, Couturier had time and space to take a full windup and, upon receipt of a pass from Voracek, blasted home a one-time slap shot from the top of the right circle.

The lead extended to 4-1 at 5:32 of the middle frame. Giroux kept a play alive from just below the goal line, poking the puck to a wide-open Patrick. From there, the second-year center had a half-empty net into which to deposit the puck. JVR got the secondary assist.

Hartman took a bad tripping penalty at 6:02, which was followed 26 seconds later by a Couturier high-sticking minor as the Isles entered the attack zone. Philly caught a break on the whistled down play where the puck eventually slid in past Elliott, and the Isles missed the mark on a couple of other good looks.

Philly turned defense into offense as the lead extended to 5-1 at 17:26. Phil Myers, who otherwise had yet another strong game, had a miscue in the offensive zone as he got himself in trouble up high and a shot attempt was quickly snuffed out for an Islanders countering opportunity. The Flyers hustled back as the Isles' pushed the attack. Laughton sacrificed himself to block a shot and Gostisbehere poked the puck ahead to Konecny. Now the Flyers had a 3-on-1. From the left circle, Konecny elected to shoot and found the short side past Greiss.

The Islanders called timeout. Greiss finished out the period but gave way to Gibson.

The brouhaha over the Voracek hit on Boychuk started at 5:41 of the third period. As soon as he exited the penalty box after serving his major, Mayfield ran at the Czech winger. Voracek saw him, and was braced for it. Mayfield ended up with a roughing penalty and 10-minute misconduct. Halfway through the Flyers power play, Leo Komarov went after Voracek. The Flyers winger gave it right back to Komarov, and the two exchanged cross-checks and shoves. Both received roughing minors.

With 3:32 left in the game, Leddy potted the juicy rebound of a partially deflected Barzal shot. Pulock got the secondary assist. The Islanders' Jordan Eberle came very close to a third goal for his team with about two minutes left, but the Flyers slammed the door thereafter.

The Flyers moved to withing five points (excluding the ROW tiebreaker) of the idle Montreal Canadiens. However, Philly made up no ground in terms of the wildcard race. That's because the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in regulation to move one point past the Habs and knock the Canadiens below the playoff cutoff line.

The Flyers have been on a 17-4-2 run since being mired dead last in the NHL standings with a 16-23-6 record for 38 points on January 14. Overall, the team is now 33-27-8 for 74 points. Unfortunately, time is running out rapidly. There are only 14 games left in the regular season.

Scott Gordon's team will take an off-day on Sunday. On Monday, the team will host the Ottawa Senators at the Wells Fargo Center. The Islanders will play the Blue Jackets. A Flyers win over the Sens paired with a Columbus regulation loss to the Isles would move the Flyers to within five points (four standings points plus a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) of the Blue Jackets for the lower wildcard and three points and a ROW disadvantage behind Montreal.
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