Recap; Game 76/82: Michkov’s 3-Point Night, Vladař’s Heroics Help Flyers Take Down Islanders

With a regulation victory needed, the Philadelphia Flyers (38-26-12) delivered, taking down the New York Islanders (42-30-5) on the road, by a score of 4-1.

The Flyers, who had dropped back-to-back regulation games for the first time since January, jumped to a 3-0 lead into the early stages of the second period from goals by Owen Tippett, Alex Bump, and Matvei Michkov.

The Islanders got one back by Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and while they pressured the Flyers in the latter half of the game, Dan Vladař shut the door the rest of the way.

Travis Sanheim scored a key insurance marker mid-way through the period and neither side scored with the net empty for the final 8 minutes.

Vladař made 20 saves and Ilya Sorokin allowed 4 goals on 21 shots, but most importantly the Flyers kept their slim playoff hopes alive and are now just one point back of the Islanders with a game in hand.

FIRST PERIOD

In what could be deemed as a do-or-die game, the Flyers lived up to that moniker to start things up. Not only did they have a 7-0 edge in shots in the early stages, but they also scored the game’s first goal with 6:06 remaining after a fantastic transition play.

Travis Sanheim stuck to the speedy Mathew Barzal before he forced a pass to Ryan Pulock that was quickly turned over at the blue-line, which allowed Sanheim and Owen Tippett to race the other way on a 2-on-1. After some nice passing from the two, Tippett finished things off with a slick move in tight on Ilya Sorokin for his 28th of the season.

1:07 later, Alex Bump, who returned to the lineup after a short hiatus, ripped a shot from the face-off dot past a bewildered Sorokin for his 4th of the season. Matvei Michkov’s initial pass bounced off the wall, which allowed Bump to corral things, before making the heads up play of firing a shot with a lot of traffic in front of the netminder.

The Flyers finished a strong period with a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 12-2 edge in shots, which also included a 10-2 advantage in scoring chances. Sorokin was tested often and early and kept the Flyers from taking an even larger lead.

SECOND PERIOD

With the next goal being so important, the Flyers didn’t let up from their first period energy, as they stretched the lead to 3-0 at the 2:52 mark off the stick of Michkov.

Bump pushed a bouncing puck forward to Michkov, who poked a shot wide of Sorokin, however the Russian sophomore followed his rebound and quickly fired a shot from behind the net that went off Sorokin and in for his 17th of the season.

The Islanders registered 6 shots on goal through the first 30 minutes, but had their best shift shortly thereafter, pressuring the Flyers defense with 3-4 grade A chances. Fortunately, Dan Vladař was seeing everything, including a slap-shot from the point – with several bodies in front – that he snared with his glove.

Shortly after a dangerous power play opportunity, the Islanders finally solved Vladař after Jean-Gabriel Pageau lifted a shot past the goaltender with 4:23 remaining in the period. Barzal was able to bring the attention of the defense to him, which allowed Pageau to walk in and wire his shot unimpeded over the blocker for his 16th of the season – and first goal in 12 games.

The period fortunately came to an end for the Flyers, who lost control of the period in the final 7-8 minutes. Despite entering the intermission still up by 2, the momentum had clearly shifted.

THIRD PERIOD

With the Flyers desperately needing to turn the tides, the first half of the period went fairly well, outside of the first minute or two where the Islanders pressured.

However, at the 9:20 mark of the period, they got the breathing room they needed after Sanheim walked in and wired a shot short-side past Sorokin for his 10th of the season. Bump took the puck from the defense to offense, played a quick give-and-go with Michkov, before the latter found Sanheim alone heading into the slot.

Islanders head coach Patrick Roy pulled the netminder with just under 8 minutes to play in regulation. Rasmus Ristolainen almost immediately missed a full-length shot into the open cage, Owen Tippett grabbed the bounce but was blocked away by Matthew Schaefer, and Trevor Zegras had his opportunity blocked by the rookie as well.

5 minutes later, Schaefer was back to his old tricks, blocking Christian Dvorak twice, and once more on Noah Cates.

Fortunately none of those misses came back to bite the Flyers, who were able to finish things off with a 4-1 win on the road. They are now tied with Detroit, Ottawa, and Columbus in points and trail the Islanders by 1.

UP NEXT

The Flyers will host the Boston Bruins on Easter Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30pm ET.