The Philadelphia Flyers took on the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Black Friday to start up their third set of back-to-back games of the season. Sam Ersson got the start in net, and there were no changes to the lineup. The Flyers blew a 3-0 lead but ultimately won in the shootout. In a game filled with turnovers, the Flyers were lucky to come out of it victorious. The orange and black improved to 13-7-3 on the season.
The Islanders got the game’s first power play at the 4:15 mark of the first period as Tyson Foerster was called for high-sticking. The Flyers did a nice job of blocking shots and clearing the puck down the ice. The Islanders only recorded one shot on goal.
Foerster gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the 8:30 mark of the first. Travis Konecy turned the puck over to Emil Heineman, but he wasn’t able to control it. Foerster then took the puck and put a wrist shot past the glove of Islanders goaltender David Rittich. The goal was unassisted.
Just 22 seconds later, Sean Couturier gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Tony DeAngelo turned the puck over to him, and Couturier put a snapshot off the far post and in past Rittich. No assists were given.
Rodrigo Abols got called for tripping at the 17:10 mark of the first period, which gave the Islanders their second power play. Ersson had to make a few saves from in front early, and the Flyers did their job of clearing the puck.
The Flyers got their first power play at the 19:56 mark of the first as Kyle MacLean was called for elbowing. They capitalised on the opportunity as Trevor Zegras’ pass went off the skate of Adam Pelech and into a wide-open net. This made the score 3-0 Flyers. Emil Andrae and Matvei Michkov tallied assists.
Heineman got the Islanders on the board at the 5:42 mark of the second period. He took a drop-back pass from Jonathan Drouin and put a snap shot past the glove of Ersson. Andrae didn’t realize that Kyle Palmieri was behind him and took the puck to set the play up. 3-1 Flyers. Drouin and Palmieri were given assists.
The Islanders got within one at the 8:11 mark of the second thanks to Matthew Schaefer. Anthony Duclair fed him with a pass, and Schaefer put a snap shot below the glove of Ersson from the right circle. This occurred on a delayed penalty on Garnet Hathaway. Assists went to Duclair and Ryan Pulock. This made the score 3-2 Flyers.
Bo Horvat got called for tripping at the 15:53 mark of the second period, which gave the Flyers their second power play. The Islanders did a nice job of blocking a few shots, and Rittich only had to make one save on Cam York. Konecny was then called for holding with 29 seconds remaining, which made the game go to four-on-four, and then the Islanders would get an abbreviated power play.
Anders Lee tied the game up at three at the 19:13 mark of the second on the Islanders’ abbreviated power play. Schaefer’s shot from the blue line was double deflected by Max Shabonov and Lee. Shabonov and Schaefer received assists.
Michkov got called for high-sticking at the 13:20 mark of the third period. It was a double-minor as blood was drawn, so this gave the Islanders their fourth and fifth power plays. They didn’t capitalize as the Flyers did a great job of blocking shots and clearing the puck down the ice. Heineman did, however, ring a puck off the crossbar.
No one else scored in regulation, so the game went to overtime. Both teams had some big scoring chances, but shots either missed just wide or the goaltenders had all the answers. No team sealed the game, so off to a shootout it went.
The Flyers sent out Zegras, Michkov, and Konecny, and the Islanders sent out Matthew Barzal, Simon Holmstrom, and Horvat. Zegras, Holmstrom, and Michkov were the only ones to score, giving the Flyers a 4-3 victory.
Flyers went one for two on the power play and killed off four of the five Islanders’ man-advantages.
Ersson saved 28 of 31 shots, giving him a .903 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Foerster (9) Assists: none
Couturier (4) Assists: none
2nd Period:
Zegras (8) (Power Play) Assists: Andrae (5), Michkov (6)
Heineman (10) Assists: Drouin (12), Palmieri (12)
Schaefer (8) Assists: Duclair (5), Pulock (10)
Lee (5) (Power Play) Assists: Shabonov (4), Schaefer (10)
3rd Period:
No goals
Overtime:
No goals
Shootout:
Zegras
Holmstrom
Konecny
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