The Islanders showed some life, but their serious struggles continue.
The New York Islanders are having a tough time. Coming into Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, they had dropped three straight games.
This game was a milestone for fan-favorite Matt Martin, who would be skating in his 700th career game. Were the Islanders able to get a win for their teammate on his special day?
1st period: Another terrible period
The Flyers came out as the stronger team and were able to score first, as a result.
With less than five minutes left, Cal Clutterbuck gave the puck away at center ice and the Flyers were able to take advantage and get on the board with a great pass from Claude Giroux to Jakub Voracek.
Mathew Barzal had been having trouble staying out of the penalty box to begin the season, and this game was no different.
Just a few seconds after the goal, he was penalized for high-sticking. This was a great kill by the Islanders and was their only highlight of the period.
A truly dreadful play by Leo Komarov with about six minutes left allowed the Flyers to take a 2-0 lead on a Kevin Hayes goal.
With just over three minutes left, the Islanders were given a chance to do damage repair on the man-advantage, but this was a vintage terrible Islanders power play.
The Islanders did absolutely nothing offensively and were also bad in their own zone this period.
2nd period: There ya go!
At the 2:10 mark, the Islanders were given another chance to score on the power play. They came up short, but looked significantly better.
Not much happened for the Islanders until about 13 minutes in. The Flyers had too many men on Adam Pelech behind their own net, and Pelech was smart enough to get the puck to Jordan Eberle in front of the goal to cut the lead in half.
A few short minutes later, the Islanders had a great sequence of passes that led to a Scott Mayfield snipe. They were able to take advantage of the traffic in front of Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
Tie game.
Pelech drew a penalty with just under seven minutes left in the period, but this Islanders power play wasn’t good.
3rd period: Two good periods in a row?
The Islanders were able to carry their strong play in the second period into the third. Less than a minute in, Barzal was tripped and the Islanders went to the power play. Unfortunately for them, the Flyers did a great job on the kill, as they had done all game.
The Islanders were much more dominant this period.
Komarov had a great chance to break the tie in the final two minutes, but Hart came up with a big save.
Not much happened in the third, but the Islanders were playing noticeably better hockey.
Overtime: Baby steps
The Islanders weren’t able to get anything done in overtime. Semyon Varlamov came up with a huge save on a Scott Laughton breakaway early on. Laughton wouldn’t give up, however, and would go on to score the game-winning goal.
Shayne Gostisbehere was able to take the puck away from Brock Nelson at center ice and get it to Laughton. Neither Noah Dobson nor Varlamov was able to stay with Laughton, and their mistakes were costly.
The Islanders didn’t win, but they finished the game on a high note and were finally able to come away with a point.They’re taking steps in the right direction.
Key Moment: Scottie ties it up
The key moment of the game was Mayfield’s shot that tied the game. The Islanders hadn’t looked in sync lately, but that wasn’t the case on this play, where they displayed great passing and the ability to score in big moments.
Player of the game: Scott Mayfield
Mayfield had an overall good game and is the reason the Islanders were able to come out with a point.
