Islanders Analysis: The Good & Bad in 4-3 Win Over Flyers

ELMONT, NY —    The New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in UBS Arena after Kyle Palmieri scored the winning goal with just 50 seconds left in the third period. Jakub Skarek stopped 16/19 shots, but all three goals against were a result of deflections. Kyle MacLean, Mat Barzal, and Anders Lee added the other tallies.

The Islanders seemed slower than in their recent games, and postgame, Head Coach Patrick Roy admitted as much, saying, “It was not our best. But we found a way to win. There are going to be nights when we’re not going to play our best hockey.”

The Game Breakdown:

Tonight, the Flyers were a mixed team of NHLers and AHLers. Even so, they battled hard all night, suffocating the Islanders in the neutral zone, particularly on zone entries. That suffocating style really hurt the Islanders’ power play.

Lee discussed that with NYI Hockey Now.

“Our breakouts were, our break-ins weren’t where they needed to be at all tonight. When we did have a good break-in, we set up, and we were just fine, but I think both units didn’t get it set up the first few times around, and, yeah, that’s ugly. We can work on that and get in tune with it.”

Lee had a great point. When the Islanders did set things up, it led to goals. Barzal’s goal came from passing and eventually a shot through a screen set expertly by Maxim Tsyplakov. Then, on Lee’s goal, it came from the captain deflecting home a Mike Reilly shot after some tic-tac-toe passing at the top of the key. Mike Reilly’s one-timer caught the captain’s stick and blew past Ivan Fedotov.

Special Teams and Goaltending:

Philadelphia scored two powerplay goals tonight, both of which came when Scott Mayfield was in the penalty box. Both of Mayfield’s minors were for high-sticking. Mayfield then joked after the game that he took them to get more film for the PK before adding that he hates being in the box, especially when the opponent scores.

Skarek had some dandies tonight. During a powerplay in the second period, Barzal telegraphed a pass to Noah Dobson. Joel Farabee read the play like a book and stole it for a breakaway. Skarek stayed calm and ultimately stoned Farabee’s breakaway attempt.

Later in the third, Skarek had to make multiple big-time saves on one-timers and rebounds. Overall, the goaltender’s summer reset seems to have benefited him greatly. Adding confidence to his game benefits not only him but also the Bridgeport Islanders when he inevitably returns to that squad.

Ultimately, the Islanders’ win was an uneven performance. Whether it was the lack of 5-on-5 during the first half of the game due to the 7 penalties called in the first 30 minutes or just a below-par preseason effort, the Islanders did find a way.

More Takeaways:

Roy liked what he saw from the bottom-six group tonight. He talked about MacLean’s goal and how he enjoyed how his third line of Lee, Simon Holmstrom, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau forechecked all game.

Julien Gauthier seems to mesh really well with MacLean and Casey Cizikas, even if he took an early penalty. His speed and forechecking have improved, and he’s making it a really difficult decision for the Islanders to waive him.

Grant Hutton continues to be a steady force for the Islanders. With his experience now in the organization, he’s still the first call-up if a defender goes down on the right side, despite a strong camp from Aidan Fulp.

One more preseason game, and then the Islanders’ season starts on October 10. There are still no updates on the statuses of Ilya Sorokin and Hudson Fasching, both of whom remained sidelined with injuries.