The Philadelphia Flyers came into the game looking for their 33rd win of the season as they hit the road to take on the New York Islanders
Hoping to avoid a two game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers faced a Metropolitan Division rival in the New York Islanders at the Nassau Memorial Coliseum for the second time in six days.
Brian Elliott received the start in-net and opposed Thomas Greiss for the Isles. Greiss had a 2.22 Goals-Against Average with a .928 save percentage coming into the matchup. This was a must win scenario for the Flyers with their playoff hopes basically on life support.
While scoring chances were created, neither team could register a shot-on-goal until just about six minutes into the opening period. The Islanders went on to strike first as Corban Knight accidentally deflected a puck passed Elliott to put his team behind by one. Scott Mayfield received credit for the goal, which was his fourth on the season. This was also Mayfield’s first tally in 48 contests because it’s not a true Flyers game unless somebody from the opposition breaks a scoring drought.
Philadelphia did get a power-play later in the period, but couldn’t generate a whole lot of pressure as the Isles killed it off with relative ease. Ryan Hartman made up for the lost opportunity, though, scoring his first as a Flyer to tie the game. Ivan Provorov assisted on the play and Hartman did a good job of following up on the rebound after his initial shot was saved. The Flyers eventually took a 2-1 lead at the end of the first on a greasy goal from James van Riemsdyk while also out-shooting their Long Island foe, 10-6.
Sean Couturier increased the Flyers lead to two in the early goings of the second, blasting a one time shot right by Greiss for his 28th of the year. Couturier also extended his point streak to four games with the goal, continuing his great play through the second half of this season. Nolan Patrick joined in on the fun minutes later, cashing in on an amazing pass from Claude Giroux to put Philadelphia up 4-1. This tied Patrick’s career high in goals and put him within three of tying his high in points as well.
Two penalties from Hartman and Couturier gave New York a 5-on-3 power-play, but the Flyers penalty killing unit prevailed to keep the lead at three with help from Elliott in the crease. Travis Konecny rewarded the shorthanded effort later on in the period, ripping a shot short-side on Greiss to put the Flyers ahead 5-1 through 40 minutes of play. New York pulled Greiss in favor of Chris Gibson to start the third, with Greiss surrendering five goals on 15 shots. The Isles battled throughout the period, even receiving a power-play opportunity during the final 20 minute span, but succumbed to the overwhelming deficit as they fell to Philadelphia by a final score of 5-2.
This was an all-around good win for the Flyers. Nearly everyone on the team played well, with Jakub Voracek being the one who stepped up most for the team. Voracek not only had a two assist performance on the night, but reached 500 career points in an Orange and Black uniform in doing so. Not every player can come back from an absence of any length and keep producing at a high level as soon as they return. Voracek did just that, helping move Philadelphia to within five points of the Montreal Canadiens for a Wild Card spot.
The Flyers are now 33-27-8 on the season. Next game is Monday against the Ottawa Senators.