Islanders Fall 5-2 In Bad Effort Loss To Flyers

Philadelphia, PA– Whether it’s the preseason or not, and whether or not they have a lineup made up of mostly prospects, a poor effort will always lead to a loss for the New York Islanders, as was the case Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

The Islanders lost what was their fifth game of the preseason, 5-2, to the Flyers in a performance that no one on the roster can be proud of, regardless of the circumstances.

After Karson Kuhlman scored the game’s opening goal nine minutes and 53 seconds into the first period, the Islanders fell flat.

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission with goals from Nicolas Deslauriers and Noah Cates, which they doubled by the end of the second period with scores from Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny.

Brian Pinho drew the Islanders within two early in the third, only for Cam Atkinson to push the deficit back to three moments later.

Philadelphia dressed what projects to be the majority of their NHL lineup for the game against an Islanders squad made up of mostly prospects. However, it was the few Islanders’ mainstays who did play that looked amateurish.

A bad turnover by Samuel Bolduc in the corner gave Philadelphia extended time in the Islanders’ zone, eventually leading to the tying goal by Deslauriers. A little more than a minute later, another Islanders giveaway, this time by Scott Mayfield in the offensive zone, led to a two-on-one opportunity that Cates buried past Semyon Varlamov in goal.

Varlamov played the entire game for the Islanders, stopping 26 of the 31 shots he faced–the Flyers outshot the Islanders  31-16–but the effort in front of him was apathetic at best and abysmal at worst.

Noah Dobson essentially let Tippett walk into the Islanders’ zone for a goal like a friendly neighbor, and Konecny scored on a one-timer six feet from Varlamov’s crease with the Flyers on a five-on-three power play.

Certainly, the Islanders didn’t dress their strongest lineup, but that’s zero excuse for them to put forth their weakest effort.

The Islanders will play their final game of the preseason on Friday at UBS Arena against the New Jersey Devils, or at least they’ll (hopefully) try to.

Follow Andrew Fantucchio on Twitter:@A_Fantucchio