At long last it’s over, the Flyers finally snap their 10-game winless streak against the Islanders on Tuesday, 3-1, and that is your final. It was a gutsy, determined effort from the orange and black, as the club turned in one of their more complete and entertaining wins of the 2022-2023 season to date. Let’s wrap on the win:
First Period
Plus: Nick Deslauriers and Zack MacEwen tried raising the temperature of the game with a fight each just eight seconds apart from one another to open the game. It gave the game a throwback feeling and during a 10-game slide for the Flyers, perhaps gave something for fans to latch onto and get excited about too. It worked for Philadelphia tonight. Gina Han of the Inquirer has more on how that came together:
Minus: Despite playing his best game of the season alongside Ivan Provorov on the Flyers top defensive pair tonight, Rasmus Ristolainen took an ill-advised interference penalty on Isles’ captain Anders Lee in front of the net at the 3:12 mark of the opening frame. The Flyers were already down a man because of a Kiefer Bellows penalty and the club paid for it here, as New York’s Noah Dobson beat Carter Hart with a slap shot on the 5-on-3.
Plus: Just a minute later, defensemen Travis Sanheim would follow up a Noah Cates and Lukas Sedlak rush a backhand a puck past Ilya Sorokin to tie the game at one apiece at 4:37 mark. The goal was shorthanded and Sanheim’s second of the year, as the Flyers were still killing off the Bellows minor when he scored.
Plus: Kevin Hayes and Lukas Sedlak would carry over their good chemistry from Saturday’s game and teamed up for another scoring play to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead at the 9:45 mark. Both teams would box around the puck after a face-off win by Sedlak before Hayes would find the puck and blister a shot past Sorokin glove side.
Second Period
Plus: This was an ugly period of play for both the Flyers and Islanders. That would benefit Philadelphia since the Islanders just simply possess more talent. The Flyers would willingly accept that and continue to nurse their one goal lead here.
Third Period
Plus: After a strong third period where the Flyers would continue to actively break up plays and hunt the puck, Kevin Hayes would ice the game for Philly with the empty netter to make the score 3-1 at the 19:26 mark. For the game, the Flyers put forth a real sound, three zone effort on Tuesday. Their systems’ structure and puck support were also good as well here.
Quick Hits
- With a pair of goals in this one, Kevin Hayes now has 23 points in 23 games. While his defensive at times leaves something to be desired, Hayes has been excellent producing offense and has now found some chemistry with Joel Farabee and Lukas Sedlak.
- Speaking of Sedlak, the center/wing now has four points in his last two games
- The Flyers now rank second in the NHL in hits and blocked shots.
- With the Flyers win over the New York Islanders, Chuck Fletcher has 500 career wins as an NHL GM. He’s the 33rd overall and fifth active GM to reach the milestone.
What’s Next
The Flyers will look to keep the good times rolling here, as they play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, 7:00 p.m. puckdrop.
