The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the New York Islanders on Tuesday evening at Wells Fargo Center in the first of six preseason matchups they’ll play before October 15th. The Flyers tied the game late but could not hold off the Islanders in overtime as New York would win 3-2 in the extra frame.
The Islanders would maintain some good pressure early on in this one, but goaltender Carter Hart and the Flyers stood tall and kept New York at bay through the first ten minutes or so of the first period.
Philadelphia would earn some limited zone time before Sean Couturier committed the first infraction of the preseason for the Flyers. Couturier was whistled for tripping against Parker Wotherspoon, and the Islanders would head to the power play. They moved the puck well and had some good scoring chances, but Hart made some key saves and the Flyers would kill off Couturier’s penalty.
After some uneventful play, New York’s Michael Dal Colle hauled down new acquisition Keith Yandle and was called for interference with 5:53 to play in the opening period. With the penalty, the Flyers would head to their first power play of the game. They had limited chances and couldn’t do much with the man-advantage, and the Islanders killed the penalty off with relative ease.
The Islanders would have some more pressure in the Philadelphia end and had the Flyers scrambling defensively at times, but Hart would fight off all 11 New York shots he faced in the first twenty minutes of play. The teams would enter the first intermission the same way they started the game, tied at 0-0.
The second period’s first forty seconds were pretty eventful. Richard Panik rushed up ice for a scoring chance but was fended off by Justin Braun, and then the Flyers came down the other way and drew a penalty in the Islanders’ zone. Robin Salo was the guilty party as he hooked Oskar Lindblöm and Philadelphia would earn their second power play of the night.
The Flyers were able to set themselves up in the zone and maintained great pressure and zone time. Derick Brassard almost potted the first goal of the game in a net-mouth scramble but Islanders goaltender Cory Schneider was able to corral the loose puck.
Just 5:14 into the middle frame, Egor Zamula was able to find the back of the net on Schneider to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Zamula fired a hard wrist shot from the left point and Lindblöm set up a beautiful screen in front to take Schneider’s eyes away as the puck went top shelf on him.
Just 3:20 later, the Islanders would respond. Adam Pelech wired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that beat Hart high and the game was now square at 1-1 on the New York defender’s goal.
With exactly eight minutes remaining in the second period, the Flyers would get their third power-play chance and have a shot at regaining the lead. Rookie Aatu Räty was sent to the penalty box for tripping against Couturier to give the Flyers another man advantage. They had plenty of great scoring chances, but Ken Appleby, who replaced Schneider in net halfway through the period, staved off Philadelphia’s attempts to score.
New York would get another power play of their own with 5:40 left to play, as Isaac Ratcliffe was whistled for high-sticking on Oliver Wahlstrom. No blood was drawn so Ratcliffe only served two minutes on the penalty. The Flyers would kill it off to stay perfect on the kill this evening.
At the end of two periods, the two teams remained tied but with a goal scored on each side by defensemen. Egor Zamula and Adam Pelech made it a 1-1 contest after forty minutes, and whoever won the third period would win the game on this night in South Philadelphia.
Samuel Ersson would replace Carter Hart to begin the third period. Hart stopped 17 shots of the 18 he faced and looked very sharp in his first appearance of the preseason and first real in-game action since April 15th, 2021.
Ersson, donning #33, looked like he fit right in this matchup right off the bat. He was busy early on as he made five saves within the first five minutes of the third period.
Travis Konecny was whistled for slashing against Pelech just 4:51 into the period, and the Islanders would finally take advantage of the opportunity. Noah Dobson one-timed a shot from the point after receiving a pass from Anthony Beauvillier and Ersson could not pick it up through traffic. Dobson’s blast gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 13:33 to play in the period.
The Flyers looked like they would not be able to come back and tie it as they weren’t generating much in the way of offense and the Islanders were seemingly dominating the period. But Maksim Sushko would put an end to that with 5:30 left in the period.
Sushko skated behind the Islanders net with the puck and wrapped it around and in to tie the game at two goals apiece. Sushko’s shot partially banked off an Islanders defender’s skate in front and it went through the legs of Appleby and in for the tally.
Sushko’s goal would help send this one to overtime despite a late Islanders rally to try and beat Ersson in regulation. However, New York would wind up with the last laugh anyway, as Beauvillier played the give-and-go with Dobson on a 3-on-2 on the rush and beat Ersson to give the Islanders a 3-2 overtime victory.
3 STARS OF THE GAME – 1) Anthony Beauvillier – NYI, 2) Ryan Ellis – PHI, 3) Carter Hart – PHI