The New York Islanders took back the series lead yesterday, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in Game 3.
The Islanders started slow and didn’t look great early on. Their passes weren’t crisp in any zone and they were getting badly outshot in the first 10 minutes. Eventually, the Flyers were able to get on the board, with Tyler Pitlick just throwing the puck on net while Semyon Varlamov was screened. Brock Nelson had an excellent chance to tie it late in the period with an empty net to shoot at, but Carter Hart made a huge glove save to keep Philadelphia ahead.
The second period, however, was all Islanders. Mathew Barzal had two great chances early, missing a wraparound, then a one-timer from a good spot. Then, Anthony Beauvillier was stopped by Hart on a great opportunity with a partial 2-on-0. Matt Martin finally got the Islanders on the board, after getting a great pass from Barzal who won the puck with a strong forecheck. Then with a few seconds left in the period, Derick Brassard outworked Philadelphia’s defense to get his own rebound, before feeding Leo Komarov in front, who was able to get the puck through Hart.
New York would increase their lead to 3-1 early in the third period, with Anders Lee banking the puck in off of Hart’s stick. After that, the Islanders were outplayed, especially near the end of the game, but managed to hang on for the win.
Aside from a slow start and the end of the game, where they were really just trying to hang on for the win, the Islanders played a good game. I would say that Carter Hart allowed three stoppable goals, which is a bit out of character based on how he’s played in the playoffs so far. I probably wouldn’t expect those kinds of goals to go in going forward. The Flyers were also really sloppy and lacked a sense of urgency in their own zone, so for as well as New York played, they may be forced to work a bit harder for those opportunities going forward.
The teams will meet again tonight for Game 4, where the Islanders will have a chance to take a huge 3-1 series lead. Considering Derick Brassard looked pretty good on the third line and generated the team’s second goal mostly on his own, I can’t see him coming back out of the lineup.
Barry Trotz has had a tendency to make changes after a loss but keep the same lineup after a win, so I’d expect the lineup to look the same. Semyon Varlamov had a good bounce-back game yesterday, so it’s clear that he’ll be back in for Game 4.
Puck drop for Game 4 is at 8 p.m.
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