Metropolitan Division madness started tonight for the Philadelphia Flyers, who took on the New York Islanders. They’ll be playing teams in their division for the rest of the month (except Detroit). The Flyers got off to a great start, taking down the Islanders 5-3. The Flyers now have points in four consecutive games, and they grabbed two valuable ones tonight.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 2:48 mark of the first period when Dennis Cholowski was called for tripping. They didn’t capitalize, as the Islanders made it difficult for them to enter the zone and pass the puck around. The Flyers only got two shots on net.
Cam York was called for tripping at the 7:22 mark of the first period, which gave the Islanders their first power play. They capitalized with only two seconds remaining. Brock Nelson found Bo Horvat on the backdoor, and he put a slapshot past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson. Horvat received the lonely assist. Travis Konecny was slashed, which allowed the puck to reach Horvat.
The Islanders got their second power play at the 10:30 mark of the first period as Joel Farabee was called for slashing. The Flyers did a good job clearing the puck when given the opportunity and Ersson made a few big saves.
Sean Couturier tied the game up at one at the 5:15 mark of the second period. Joel Farabee slid the puck to him in the blue paint and Couturier put a wrist shot past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Farabee and Matvei Michkov collected assists.
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The Flyers got their second power play at the 6:15 mark of the second period as Cholowski was called for slashing. They couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity but had a few good chances in front.
Rasmus Ristolainen was called for interference at the 8:21 mark of the second period which gave the Islanders their third power play. While they didn’t capitalize, the Flyers did on a two-on-one. Travis Konecny made a cross-ice pass to Garnet Hathaway who put a slap shot past Sorokin. This gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at the 9:29 mark. Konecny and Travis Sanheim tallied assists.
The Flyers took a 3-1 lead at the 13:41 mark courtesy of Morgan Frost. Owen Tippett made a pass to Frost in front and he tipped it in past the left pad of Sorokin. Konecny helped set the play up with a great pass up the ice. Tippett and Konecny picked up assists.
Scott Mayfield was called for slashing at the 14:16 mark of the second period, giving the Flyers their third power play. While they didn’t take advantage, they passed the puck around well and won important puck battles along the boards.
Matthew Barzal scored just 30 seconds into the third period. Tyson Foerster turned the puck over in center ice and his wrist shot beat Ersson’s blocker side. This made the score 3-2 Flyers. Noah Dobson was given the lonely assist.
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The Flyers got their fourth power play at the 3:14 mark of the third period, as Cholowski was called for slashing. They turned the puck over too much, giving the Islanders plenty of chances to tie the game while shorthanded.
Just after the power play expired, Cam York gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead at the 5:16 mark of the third period. Couturier won the face-off to Farabee, Farabee passed the puck to York, and York sent a laser wrist shot short side on Sorokin. Farabee and Couturier collected assists.
The Islanders got their fourth power play at the 16:24 mark of the third period as Scott Laughton was called for cross-checking. They pulled Sorokin in favor of the extra attacker, which paid off. Anders Lee deflected Horvat’s shot past Ersson to get them within one at the 17:16 mark. Horvat and Kyle Palmieri tallied assists. This made the score 4-3 Flyers.
Noah Cates put the game away for the Flyers with an empty-net goal at the 18:48 mark of the third period. He made a great play winning a puck battle earlier with Sorokin pulled, but the Flyers couldn’t capitalize on that chance.
The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and killed off two of the four Islander man advantages.
Ersson remained solid in net and had to make big saves throughout the game. He saved 26 of 29 shots, giving him a .897 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Horvat (14) (Power Play) Assists: Nelson (14)
2nd Period:
Couturier (8) Assists: Farabee (9), Michkov (19)
Hathaway (6) (Shorthanded) Assists: Konecny (31), Sanheim (18)
Frost (11) Assists: Tippett (15), Konecny (32)
3rd Period:
Barzal (5) Assists: Dobson (17)
York (4) Assists: Farabee (10), Couturier (14)
Lee (20) (Power Play) Assists: Horvat (18), Palmieri (16)
Cates (10) (Empty Net) Assists: Konecny (33)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Saturday, Jan 18. in New Jersey against the Devils.
Extra Notes
- Flyers lost Ryan Poehling to an upper-body injury. He took a nasty hit from Maxim Tsyplakov
- Konecny avoided injury as he fell into the boards awkwardly
- Flyers have points in four consecutive points
- 46 points on the season for the Flyers
- Great start to Metro Madness
