Sorokin makes 21 saves, Islanders shut out Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves for the New York Islanders in a 4-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.

It was Sorokin’s NHL-leading sixth shutout this season and the 28th of his career.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals for New York (28-19-5), which had lost two in a row and three of four. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, Tony DeAngelo scored, and Anthony Duclair had two assists.

"It was a solid team effort tonight," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We talked about it before the game, we wanted to play a solid 200-foot game for 60 minutes, and it's exactly what we did."

Samuel Ersson made 19 saves for Philadelphia (24-18-9).

It was the Flyers' first game after going 2-0-1 on a three-game road trip, which included a 7-3 win at the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

"We had no energy," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. "I'm disappointed. That's a division game after coming off the road. ... I don't know if anybody played well."

Pageau scored short-handed to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 14:29 of the first period. The forward lofted the puck into Philadelphia's zone, and Ersson played it into the corner to his left. Casey Cizikas then won the race for the puck and sent it back to an open Pageau in front.

"Just kind of lucky bounce from the start," Pageau said. "All the credit goes to Casey. The no-look pass right on my tape. He put it on a platter for me. That goal is his goal, I just had to put it in."

Tocchet said that play was an example of the lack of energy his team had.

"There was no effort coming back," he said. "We didn't even have the puck. We had two guys go to the same guy, and then one guy doesn't back check. ... Who knows if we're 0-0 after the first (period), but it seemed like when they scored it, some guys accepted it."

Barzal made it 2-0 at 5:41 of the second period when he found space in the high slot and redirected Isaiah George's shot from the blue line past Ersson.

It was his first goal in nine games and came after he was benched for the third period of a 5-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

"He looked great," Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. "That whole line (with Duclair and Jonathan Drouin) played really well. They were all going tonight. He was making plays. I'm sure he wanted to respond, and he did that tonight."

Philadelphia was looking for a similar response after a successful road trip and with the chance to move past the Islanders into third place in the Metropolitan Division.

"We weren't at our best on winning battles, going to the dirty areas," Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. "They play a well-structured game, so you've got to give them some credit. I think overall we just need to be better."

The Islanders went ahead 3-0 at 12:50 on DeAngelo's power-play goal. After a Flyers turnover, Duclair led a 3-on-2 rush and dropped the puck to Barzal, who passed across to DeAngelo, who scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle.

Pageau scored on a one-timer from the slot to make it 4-0 at 13:38 of the third period.

"I thought we were connected," Pageau said. "From the bottom to the top of the lineup, everyone showed up, everyone worked hard. I think we paid a lot of attention to all the little details. We approached the game like it was a playoff game. I thought we played an extremely solid game. Of course, when your goalie gives [up] zero, it helps a lot. He's been amazing for us, and again tonight. But I thought in front of him, a lot of communication on breaking out pucks, a lot of good support, and I thought we played connected in every zone, [defensive] zone, [offensive] zone. They're a good transition team, and then we took that away from them."

NOTES: After the game, the Islanders acquired defenseman Carson Soucy in a trade with the New York Rangers for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. … Barzal's assist on DeAngelo's goal was his 359th, tying Clark Gillies for fifth all-time for the Islanders. ... It was Sorokin's fifth shutout in 17 games against the Flyers, his most against any NHL team. It also was his third shutout in seven games in January, tying Semyon Varlamov (three in April 2021) for the most in a calendar month in Islanders history. ... The Islanders played without forwards Simon Holmstrom (illness) and Calum Ritchie (lower body). ... Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had one takeaway in 16:38 of ice time after missing the previous six games because of an upper-body injury.