The Streak Is Over! The Flyers Beat The Islanders 3-1 - Highlights and Breakdown

The stage was set late in the third period of the Flyers and Islanders game on Saturday, when Alexander Romanov threw an enthusiastic hit against the Flyers Kevin Hayes with five minutes remaining and the Isles up 5-2. The ensuing scrum resulted in a fight between Tony DeAngelo and Oliver Wahlstrom and saw 36 minutes in penalties dished out to five players during the stoppage.

Two minutes later and with one-minute remaining in the contest, Matt Martin cruised into the paint after a whistle to stir the pot further. Martin was met by Rasmus Ristolainen and the pair got into a wrestling bout. The late animosity carried over to the rematch on Tuesday night.

1. It Didn't Take Long:

The game was seven seconds old when the first fists flew. Zach MacEwen and Matt Martin set the dance card dropping the gloves off of the opening face-off. One second after play resumed, Nicolas Deslauriers and Ross Johnston (who fought rookie Ronnie Attard in the preseason) decided to settle that score, going toe-to-toe.



2. Special Teams On Display:

Rasmus Ristolainen was penalized with the Flyers already a man down on a questionable call in front of Carter Hart. Ristolainen gave Anders Lee a crosscheck he didn't like and when he came back with a normal net front bump, the 6'3», 235lbs Lee hit the ice like Bambi and sold the call. The Islanders quickly capitalized on the 5 on 3 on a one-timer by Noah Dobson.

Travis Sanheim tied the game on beautiful sequence short handed. Lukas Sedlak recognized Provorov with possession on his backhand, behind the flyers net and in a difficult position to clear the puck. Sedlak cut into the Flyers slot, gave Provorov an easy out on a short pass, and turned the puck up ice quickly. Sanheim made a great, aggressive read to jump into the rush and chiselled the loose puck over Ilya Sorokin.


Owen Tippett took an undisciplined penalty with 5:47 remaining in the third period and the tension was high during the two minute kill. Justin Braun dove into Lee's feet to thwart an opportunity, Ristolainen blocked a key shot, and the Flyers did a good job of keeping the puck on the perimeter to minimize The Islanders chances.

3. Big Hayes-y Continues To Rack Up Points:

To say Hayes' release from a stand still on his snipe was anything less than phenomenal, would be an understatement. A slight scramble off the draw saw Sedlak chip the puck over to Hayes, who unleashed an unstoppable wrister top cheddar on a stunned Sorokin.


The goal was Kevin Hayes' 7th of the campaign and he celebrated with his brother Jimmy, as he always does.


Hayes iced the game with an empty netter to make it 3-1.


4. Puck Management:

The decision making was sound. The passes were decisive and clean. There wasn't a sense of panic with the puck.

Puck management has been stressed by bench boss John Tortorella, but lapses in judgement have been detrimental to the Flyers during their current losing streak. Teams have been taking advantage of the Flyers questionable decisions with the puck in transition. Tortorella wants to encourage players to make plays, but where, when, and how they make those creative plays has been the issue. Turnovers at the blue line. Making mistakes on east/west plays up high instead of down low in the zone. Soft clearings out of their defensive zone.

The errors that have haunted Philly were cleaned up more the most part against the Islanders on Tuesday. In the offensive zone in the third period, the Flyers kept the puck deep and didn't make blind plays to the slot or back up the wall; if they didn't have a play they cycled it down low.

5. Unsung Hero:

Lukas Sedlak may be locking himself down a roster spot on the Flyers bottom six. Sedlak has an impressive work ethic and does not cheat on plays. He reads the defensive side of the game extremely well and is a key player on the Flyers penalty kill right now. Sedlak finished with 2 assists, but made a key play converging on Barzal to force the turnover that lead to Hayes' empty net goal. Sedlak was +3 with 3 shots, 2 hits, and a blocked shot in 19:06 of ice time.

Ivan Provorov also played a solid game on the backend, without DeAngelo manning the blue line with him. Provorov logged 24:50 minutes of ice, added an assist and made a key play on Sanheim's shortie, had 3 shots, 2 hits, and 3 blocked shots. Provorov did a fantastic job of minimizing Barzal's time with the puck and made string decisions with the puck in his zone.


The Flyers face the Lightning at home on Thursday and will look to start a streak in the opposite direction.