Philadelphia 3, NY Islanders 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 3, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Referees:
Gord Dwyer, Evgeny Romasko
Linesmen:
Brian Mach, Steve Miller
Attendance:
11119
By The Sports Xchange
NEW YORK -- From all corners, the Philadelphia Flyers trumped their collective resolve.
Down a twisting hallway, both the coach and goaltender questioned whether the New York Islanders possessed the attribute.
"(It) was concerning about a few guys, the way they came out. I won't lie to you," New York coach Jack Capuano said after Claude Giroux's lone shootout goal powered the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Islanders at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.
New York fell to 4-6-1 and suffered its fourth loss in the last five games despite 40 saves from Jaroslav Halak.
"Again, they're professionals here," Capuano said. "They have to earn their ice time. So we're going to have some decisions to make and if we have to play the young kids, we'll play the young kids."
The first of four meetings between the Metropolitan Division franchises was essentially an ode to the NHL's Dead Puck Era of the mid-1990s and early 2000s. Neither the Islanders nor the Flyers were able to generate a sustained attack in the neutral zone until Philadelphia scored midway through the second period.
"I think tonight we didn't give up a whole lot, that's the difference," Philadelphia center Sean Couturier said. "Usually we're giving scoring chances we're given up too many goals. Tonight was one of those games where we tightened things up. We scored less goals but we found way to win."
It took one breakdown for Travis Konecny to open the scoring.
The rookie center tucked a rebound of a right-wing drive past Halak to put the Flyers ahead 1-0. The goal was the culmination of a sequence which began with Philadelphia defenseman Radko Gudas springing Konecny with a home run pass from the neutral zone.
"I think he's been real good since he's come back into the lineup," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said of Gudas. "He's moving the puck well. He's defending well. He's a real efficient player. He's made some impact plays.
"If you look back over the last few games, tonight the first goal of the game was a great outlet pass by him up to Konecny to spring him for the first goal."
The teams went into the second intermission 1-1 after center John Tavares' power-play goal at 19:31 of the period. Tavares tapped a cross-ice, goal mouth feed from center Casey Cizikas past Michal Neuvirth.
Neuvirth stopped 25 shots as Philadelphia, which recorded a third straight divisional win, improved to 6-5-1.
New York went ahead 2-1 on Dennis Seidenberg's fourth of the season with 7:05 left in regulation, but Flyers forward Matt Read tied the game with a power-play goal with 58 seconds left.
It was the second straight night the Flyers got a late equalizer to send the game in overtime. They beat Detroit on Wednesday with an overtime goal.
"They were better in the first period. Don't know the reason why. We just have to come out the way they did," Halak said. "I think in the second and the third we were better. But 60 minute effort right now is missing. Sometimes you can get away (a) with 40, 45 minute effort. Right now we need 60."
NOTES: New York scratched rookie C Mathew Barzal and rookie LW Anthony Beauvillier. Both are on their entry-level contracts. Barzal has only played in two games this season for the Islanders and has been scratched eight times after being called up after the season opener. Beauvillier's scratch was his second of the season, and he has played in nine games. New York has to decide whether it's worth burning the first year of his entry-level deal. ... The Islanders also scratched G Jean-Francois Berube. ... Philadelphia scratched RW Dale Weise. The Flyers announced before the game LW Michael Raffl was activated from the injured reserve and would start the game on a line with C Claude Giroux and RW Wayne Simmonds. ... The Flyers said D Andrew MacDonald would miss a week with a lower-body injury and announced C Boyd Gordon had been placed on the injured reserve. Nick Schultz replaced MacDonald in the lineup.
Top Game Performances
| Philadelphia |
|
NY Islanders |
|
Travis Konecny 1 |
Points |
Dennis Seidenberg 1 |
|
Travis Konecny 1 |
Goals |
Dennis Seidenberg 1 |
|
Nick Cousins 1 |
Assists |
Josh Bailey 1 |
|
Matt Read 1 |
Power Play Goals |
John Tavares 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Michal Neuvirth .926 |
Save Percentage |
Jaroslav Halak .952 |
|
Michal Neuvirth 25 |
Saves |
Jaroslav Halak 40 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Philadelphia
|
42 |
3 |
1-5 |
2-3 |
8 |
39 |
| NY Islanders
|
27 |
2 |
1-3 |
4-5 |
12 |
29 |
Upcoming Games
-
NY Islanders will play their next game at home against Edmonton. The Islanders have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .429 after a loss.
-
Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Montreal. The Flyers have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .571 after a loss.
For more information, contact us