Lately, the Philadelphia Flyers can’t seem to get ahead of their divisional opponents. After a grueling 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday, the Flyers fell to the New York Islanders 3-1 Friday night.
Ahead of the contest, general manager Danny Briere announced that defenseman Egor Zamula was out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This meant Erik Johnson would draw back into the lineup. It was also announced that Ivan Fedotov would get the start between the pipes. With Kolosov being sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it’s not solidified that Fedotov is the backup to Sam Ersson.
A strong start for the Flyers
The battle started strongly for Philly as Tyson Foerster was able to get the puck past Ilya Sorokin on a two-on-one. With the Flyers taking a 1-0 lead, it was the only lead they would endorse throughout the contest.
The Flyers were aggressive in their offensive zone. Owen Tippett had a few chances as well but was denied by Sorokin. With under five minutes left of play in the opening period, the Islanders were able to tie up the game as Brock Nelson had a timely pass to Anthony Duclair, who was able to bank the puck past Fedotov.
The scoring wasn’t over for the Islanders as a similar play took place this time with only two minutes to go. Mathew Barzal rushed down the ice with the puck and saw Bo Horvat to his right, and with a swift feed to Horvat, he was able to bank in the second puck behind Fedotov. Travis Sanheim was the only Flyer who could get back to defend, but there wasn’t much he could do. The first frame ended with the Islanders leading the Flyers 2-1.
Not enough gas in the tank
In the second frame, Michkov was on a breakaway but was denied by Sorokin. This was the closest the Flyers were to tying up the game. While the Islanders were aggressive around the net, Fedotov was able to stop really difficult shots on goals. However, Brock Nelson got his wrist shot from a distance past the goalie. This highlights why the Flyers have a positional concern, as this puck should have been stopped. The final frame was just a highlight reel of Sorokin denying the Flyers. The Islanders won the contest 3-1.
After the game John Tortorella touched on the past two losses, “I don’t have a particular reason (the two losses) it doesn’t work. With TK on that line, I’m not sure that’s a match.” Tortorella is referring to the first line, Tippett-Frost-Konecny. The bench boss continues, “Some of TK’s points of when I had him on that line haven’t really come with that line.” Tortorella indicated that he will change the lines for the next game, against the New Jersey Devils on Monday night in south Philadelphia. The Flyers have a Saturday off and return to work on Sunday for an 11 am practice.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
