Jones’ Strong Play Not Enough As Islanders Shut Out Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers played in their fifth game of the preseason on Tuesday night, this time against the New York Islanders at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Flyers were looking for a little revenge as the Islanders beat them back on September 28th in Philadelphia, but that wouldn’t be the case as the Islanders defeated the Flyers 3-0 in this one.

It was a quick start for one of the teams that has orange in their color palette. Philadelphia’s Nicolas Aubé-Kubel was called for high-sticking just 37 seconds in against Noah Dobson and the Islanders would get the game’s first power play very early on.

Anthony Beauvillier would make sure to capitalize on it and netted the game’s opening goal on Martin Jones on a nice snapshot at just 1:33 of the period to give New York a 1-0 lead on the power play.

The Flyers would get their first power play opportunity at 4:07 after Zdeno Chara was whistled for delay of game after flipping the puck over the glass. Despite some decent looks, the Flyers couldn’t solve Cory Schneider or the Islanders penalty kill and still trailed 1-0.

Both teams would try to keep the offensive pressure up but Jones and Schneider stood tall for their respective teams. The Islanders would get their second power play of the game with 5:56 left in the period after Mathew Barzal was hooked by Tyson Foerster. The Flyers would look much better on their second penalty kill and would hold the Islanders at bay this time.

New York would still find a way to net another goal, however. Anders Lee would score with 54.6 seconds left in the opening frame after he jammed it past Jones for the 2-0 score after Barzal sent the puck in front for the Islanders captain through traffic.

The period would end shortly after with the 2-0 Islanders lead still in place. New York also led in shots on goal 8-7 and looked like the better team.

Philadelphia had a much better start to the second period, not letting the Islanders skate as easily with the puck and gave them more trouble trying to set up scoring chances. They still hadn’t figured out New York netminder Cory Schneider, but they were also knocking on the door numerous times.

Jones looked especially good in the second period for Philadelphia. He seemed to be tracking the puck well and was making some good saves to keep the Flyers in the game.

Cam York would be the latest Flyer sent to the sin bin with 7:20 left in the middle frame after he was called for slashing against former Flyers prospect Cole Bardreau. The Islanders had plenty of good chances again but Jones was fantastic on the kill and helped the Flyers stave off another New York power play.

Lee would be sent to the box for tripping with 2:58 remaining in the period for the Islanders, but the Flyers could once again not capitalize on the man-advantage at the end of the period.

Despite opportunities on both sides, the second period remained scoreless and the 2-0 Islanders lead remained after forty minutes. The shots on goal were evened up at 16 on each side at that point, and the Flyers looked hungrier, especially in the second half of the period.

The Islanders came out for the third period looking to really put the Flyers away, but Martin Jones was still on his game and made some great saves, including an absolute highlight-reel stop on Noah Dobson.

It was still a case of no goals scored, but the ice was opening up more and there were certainly some more scoring chances from each team as the third period wore on. Both Jones and Schneider were still playing very well and it was very much a goaltender’s duel in this game.

The Flyers would end up on the power play with just 5:28 to play in the third period after Aubé-Kubel was wrapped up by Dobson and Dobson was called for hooking against the Philadelphia winger. The Islanders’ penalty kill, who coming into tonight was perfect in the preseason, remained that way and fought off the Philadelphia power play.

The Flyers’ hopes at cutting into New York’s lead all but wilted with a tripping penalty levied against Aubé-Kubel with exactly two minutes remaining in the final frame. While the Islanders moved the puck well, they had the free will to to just play keep-away and fire shots as they pleased with time winding down. They would finally shove the final dagger into Philadelphia’s chest with a Josh Bailey snipe from the right circle after plenty of pressure for a 3-0 lead with 14.4 left to play.

3-0 is how this one would wrap up in Southwestern Connecticut as New York defeated the Flyers at Webster Bank Arena to snap Philadelphia’s two-game preseason winning streak.