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Wrapup: Winless Streak at 6, Flyers Drop 4-3 OT Decision to Isles |
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Wrapup: Winless Streak at 6 as Flyers Drop OT Decision to Isles, 4-3
The Philadelphia Flyers battled hard but followed an all-too-familiar recent pattern that has led to a six-game winless streak (0-3-3), falling 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders on Wednesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Philadelphia held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, trailed 3-2 and had chances late in the game to win in regulation. Unfortunately, a penalty killing swoon that started in the Calgary game last Saturday continued for a third straight game (3-for-5 on this night) as New York scored its first two goals. Discipline lapses and some untimely mistakes ultimately resulted in settling for one point instead of claiming a win.
Mathew Barzal (power play, 5th goal of the season), Johnny Boychuk (5-on-3 PPG, 3rd), Joshua Ho-Sang (2nd) and Josh Bailey (3-on-3 overtime winner) scored for the Islanders. John Tavares picked up his 9th and 10th assists of the season, including setting up Bailey on the winning goal. Bailey earned his 20th assist of the season on Barzal's late first period power play goal and his 21st on Boychuk's goal.
Thomas Greiss grabbed the win in goal with 35 saves on 38 shots.
Taylor Leier and Michael Raffl scored their respective first goals of the season for Philadelphia. Jakub Voracek (power play, 7th) tied the game at 3-3. Travis Sanheim (assists in back-to-back games), Scott Laughton (4th assist), Ivan Provorov (8th assist), Wayne Simmonds (7th assist) and Claude Giroux (14 assist) collected helpers.
Brian Elliott played an excellent game in goal without being rewarded. He made a host of excellent saves during stretches of Islanders' dominance and stopping 35 of 39 shots overall.
The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. They had a chance to take the lead on a man advantage late in the third period but were unable to score. Philly dominated the last few minutes of regulation -- especially Raffl during an outstanding shift hemming the Islanders deep in their own end -- but could not score.
Danick Martel made his NHL debut, skating 12:07 of ice time across 18 shifts. He had three shots on goal -- including a first-period breakaway -- on six attempts as well as four blocked shots.
Samuel Morin made his season debut and 2nd appearance in the NHL for the Flyers. He skated 16:09 on 24 shifts. Morin had an uneven game. He used his size and reach effectively but also had a few lapses, including a bad interference penalty in the third period and a second period delay of game penalty -- a backhander over the glass from the defensive zone that created a 5-on-3 power play. He had one blocked shot and three credited hits but also missed a couple hit attempts where he tried to do a little too much and took himself out of position.
Shayne Gostisbehere, who has been struggling on both sides of the puck in the last three games but especially defensively, had a rough night that included being caught as a spectactor on Bailey's winning goal. Fellow defensemen Robert Hägg and Brandon Manning also had some issues with decision-making in this game.
The Flyers, who had a near-miss on a Couturier chance that did not enter the net but was reviewed in Toronto to be certain, took a 1-0 lead at 6:02 of the first period. Sanheim made a nice lateral play above the circles and Leier jammed the puck through in the blue paint for his 2nd career NHL goal and 1st of the season. Laughton got the secondary assist.
The Islanders used precision puck movement and a snipe by Barzal in the left circle to tie the game on a power play goal at 18:53 of the first period. Bailey and Nick Leddy received the assists.
Philly retook the lead at 2-1 at the 46-second mark of the second period. Couturier sprang Raffl on a breakaway with a good lead pass. In a virtual carbon copy of Daniel Sedin's goal against the Flyers on Tuesday, Raffl put the puck off the post, then off goaltender's Greiss skate and into the net. Provorov received the secondary assist.
The Islanders cashed in on their 5-on-3 scoring chance with Boychuk scoring from the slot over Elliott to re-tie the game at 2-2 at the 7:13 mark. The assists went to Bailey and Tavares.
New York took its first lead at 11:05. This sequence started with an Islanders' faceoff win and a shot that was tipped home by Ho-Sang. The Flyers immediately complained that the puck was played by a high stick, but the on-ice decision was upheld on replay. The assists went to Adam Pelech and Anthony Beauvillier.
The Flyers retied the game at 4-4 with some good power play puck movement of their own. Taking a Giroux pass along the goal line, Wayne Simmonds sent a pass laterally to Voracke in the right circle and Voracek beat Greiss over the glove at 13:54 of the second period.
In the third period, New York had the early momentum and the Flyers had most of the late pressure (and 16-8 shot on goal edge) but there was no scoring.
During the 3-on-3 overtime, a twisted-and-turning Tavares and Couturier waged an epic board battle along the right walls. Gostisbehere was caught watching what was unfolding and Bailey slipped in the back door to finally take a feed from Tavares and win the game at the 32-second mark.
The Flyers and Islanders will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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