The Philadelphia Flyers edged out the New York Islanders 3-2 tonight to get their league-leading 16th road win of the season. Center Sean Couturier scoring what would be the game winner with 1:30 remaining in the third period, making this game his third consecutive with a goal.
“He’s really doing a good job defensively and then to contribute the way he has offensively as of late… [he’s] just a really smart player,” remarked Flyers coach Peter LaViolette.
The Islanders (15-20-6) offense came out firing, outshooting the Flyers 35 to 22. They hoped the momentum of their big victory against Detroit on Tuesday would carry over to tonight, but the Flyers (26-12-4), and more notably Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, getting another start in place of the struggling Ilya Bryzgalov, would not let that happen, stopping 33 of of those 35 shots.
“He was terrific,” said Flyers coach Peter LaViolette. “He looked really sharp through the entire game and he’s looked that way for his last ten starts or so.”
Flyers Winger Scott Hartnell scored the game’s first goal on a power play with 2:40 remaining in the first period, just hours after this year’s NHL All Stars were announced and he, to the surprise of many, wasn’t chosen.
“It was disappointing,” he said. “Nothing I can do about it, though. We just gotta keep going and keep getting wins. That’s the main thing.”
Wayne Simmonds added a second goal midway through the second, his 11th of the season, giving the team a comfortable two-goal cushion, but Kyle Okposo cut the lead in half less than 30 seconds into the third period and the rest of the game was a battle for both teams. After Couturier’s goal, Islanders Center Julian Tavares scored with 16 seconds left to make it a 3-2 game, but that was the last shot the Islanders took.
The victory closes the gap for the Flyers between the division and conference-leading New York Rangers to two points. They are now headed to Nashville to face off against the Predators Saturday night.
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