With the Philadelphia Flyers losing five straight and eight of their last nine and scoring three goals or less in eight of those games, they found the scoring they were missing with a 6-2 win over the New York Islanders. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Claude Giroux each score two goals in the win while John Tavares scored both of the Islanders goals.
Flyers Find Offense In 6-2 Rout Of Islanders
The Flyers found offense in all forms of play whether it be even strength, on the power play, and shorthanded as well. The Flyers are fourth in the league on the power play and it showed in this game as they went three for five on the power play. They were just as successful on the penalty kill as they held the Islanders to one power play goal in six attempts and scored a shorthanded goal as well. The Islanders did try and make a comeback and score two consecutive goals to close the gap to three in the second, but ultimately could not make the comeback.
Flyers fans are understandably happy to see this effort from a team that has looked so lackluster in the last ten games. Travis Hughes from Broad Street Hockey has this to say about the Flyers’ effort:
A major critique of the Flyers over the last few weeks was that the role players, the bottom two lines, were the best players on the ice for the team. You can’t win games when your best players aren’t your best players. Well, things changed tonight. The top line of Hartnell-Richards-Giroux was unbelievable. They had a ton of chemistry, a ton of pressure on the puck, and a ton of energy. They seemed to make things happen every time they hit the ice, and it’s no shock that they put up seven points.
On the other side of the ice, the Islanders really did put together a poor effort on the ice. Even Brendan Witt's inspiring play after being hit by a car could not bring a level of effort that was needed to beat a desperate Flyers team. Islanders' blog, Lighthouse Hockey, had this to say about the effort put forth:
This one was all stink from beginning to end, with a couple of trademark John Tavares poached powerplay goals thrown in to temporarily ease the pain. The Islanders didn't show up in the first half, their penalty kill was ineffective (as it always is in front of Martin Biron), and the powerplay didn't come to life until it was too late.
Worst part is, the Islanders chose to lay an egg in a way that gets the Flyers out of their slump, hands them their first bit of affirmation under Peter Laviolette, and lets them leap the Isles in the Atlantic standings. Way to go, guys.
The Islanders have two days to wash this game from their memories as they travel to Toronto to face off on Wednesday night while the Flyers can enjoy this win as they face the Ottawa on Thursday.
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