The Philadelphia Flyers were shut out by the New York Islanders, 4-0, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday evening. Ilya Sorokin notched his sixth shutout of the season. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored twice for New York.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (SHG, 9th) tallied a shorthanded goal to give New York a lead in the latter half of the first period. A Mathew Barzal deflection goal (12th) gave the Islanders a 2-0 edge in the second period. Former Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo (PPG, 4th) later extended the lead to three goals. Pageau scored again (10th) in the third period for extra insurance.
In a losing effort, Samuel Ersson stopped 19 of 23 shots. Sorokin denied all 21 shots he faced; few of which were dangerous after the first period.
Veteran defenseman Ramus Ristolainen returned to the Flyers' lineup on Monday after a six-game absence. Additionally, Nikita Grebenkin replaced Garnet Hathaway on the fourth forward line.
FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Bo Horvat blasted the game's first shot on goal. The Islanders iced the puck shortly thereafter.
After Jamie Drysdale held a puck at the point, Maxim Tsyplakov hooked Noah Cates going to the net. Thirty seconds into the power play, Owen Tippett rang a shot off the crossbar. Later, Michkov set up looks for Cam York, Cates and Tippett.
Cates was called for a defensive zone holding minor at 11:03. Sean Couturier cleared a long rebound from the defensive zone midway through the PK.
Philly went back to the power play at 14:14. Marc Gatcomb went off for an offensive zone hold as he tried to forecheck Emil Andrae. The Islanders promptly scored shorthanded at 14:29.
Adam Pelech put a high flip on Ersson's net, and the rebound went toward the corner. Casey CIzikas beat Drysdale to retrieve the puck, and fed Pageau for a goal. During the remaining power play time, Michkov had a look from the right circle.
Drysdale passed up an uncontested chance to swing across the front of the net. Instead, he tried a pass that went off a skate and deflected out of harm's way. Each team also blocked five shots apiece in the period.
With 58.7 seconds left in the period, Gatcomb fired a shot on net directly off an offensive left circle faceoff win. Ersson made the save.
Shots: Flyers 7- Islanders 6
Faceoffs: Flyers 7 - Islanders 8
SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers generated almost no Grade A chances in the period. Meanwhile, the Islanders methodically built upon their lead.
At 2:30, the Flyers went to their third power play. Adam Boqvist took a defensive zone high-sticking penalty. Tippett had another look at the net. At 3:59, Mayfield and Tippett exchanged a slash and a cross-check. Both players went off on coincidental minors.
With the Flyers caught out on a very long shift, New York took a 2-0 lead at 5:41. Barzal deflected home an Isaiah George point shot from the high slot. The second assist went to Anthony Duclair.
At 11:09, the Islanders went to their second power play of the game. Cam York tripped Kyle MacLean in the neutral zone. At 12:50 after an Islanders transition rush off an Emil Andrae mishandle in the offensive zone, DeAngelo jumped into the play and blasted home a power play goal. The assists went to Barzal and Duclair.
Shots: Flyers 8 (15 overall) - Islanders 7 (13 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 7 (14 overall) - Islanders 13 (21 overall)
THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
DeAngelo hit the outside of the net in the open minute of the period. At the other end, Tippett fired a right wing shot on net. Sorokin swallowed it up.
Through 5:07, shots were 1-1. Since the first period, the Flyers had just one high-danger scoring chance (five overall).
The Flyers went to the penalty kill again at 6:59. Tippett was guilty of a high stick on Schaefer in the offensive right corner. Ersson stopped an Anders Lee deflection and a followup attempt.
With 7:20 remaining, York jumped into the rush for a scoring chance. At 13:38, Ristolainen took himself out of position as Tsyplakov fed Pageau for his second goal of the night. Lee got the secondary assist.
Shots: Flyers 6 (21 overall) - Islanders 9 (23 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 (24 overall) - Islanders 12 (33 overall)
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey -- Sean Couturier -- Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Lane Pederson – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York -- Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler-- Jamie Drydale
Emil Andrae -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Samuel Ersson
[Aleksei Kolosov]
Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)
1. First game off a road trip
The Flyers entered the game knowing they had to avoid the "first game off a road trip" pitfall after going 2-0-1 against three of the hottest teams in the Western Conference. On Monday, the Flyers had errors of commission and omission add up.
2. Zegras
Trevor Zegras entered Monday's game with a team-high 46 points on the season including three goals and an assist (but excluding two shootout goals) in two games against the Islanders. Is this game, he was minus-one with one shot on goal.
3. Special teams
The Flyers decisively lost the special teams battle in this game after a promising start. They went 0-for-3 on the power play with a shorthanded goal allowed. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
4. The Anders Lee effect
For much of his NHL career, Islanders captain Anders Lee has given the Flyers issues in trying to contain his size and strength down low in the offensive zone. He and his linemates were benched as Saturday's game moved along. Lee entered Monday's match with two points (1g, 1a) in two games against Philly.
In this game, Lee himself did not inflict much damage apart from a secondary assist. But his line did plenty.
