The Flyers had the early jump. A late first period goal gave New York momentum. The Islanders scored a goal in each period to defeat the Flyers 3-1 at the Barclays Center on Wednesday night.
The Flyers got off to a great start. After pinning New York in their own end for much of the first two minutes, Philadelphia would head to the power play.
Claude Giroux would put the Flyers up just 12 seconds into the man advantage. The captain hammered a one timer past Jaroslav Halak to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead. Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakub Voracek had the assists.
The Islanders would get a chance with the power play just two minutes later when Voracek was called for interference. The Flyers penalty killers were up to the task and kept New York off the board.
Philadelphia would get a second power play chance at 11:36 of the period but were unsuccessful.
Nick Leddy would take his second penalty of the opening period at 18:50 when he boarded Michael Raffl. 15 seconds later the game was tied. Cal Clutterbuck took the puck at the blueline and went in two on two with Casey Cizikas. Cizikas buried a rebound past Steve Mason to make it 1-1.
The Islanders outshot the Flyers 9-8 in the period and the teams went to the locker room tied 1-1.
The Flyers began the second with 50 seconds of power play time but were unable to cash in.
New York would dictate play for much of the next five plus minutes and that pressure would pay off. Kyle Okposo made it 2-1 when he beat Mason in tight at 5:15. John Tavares picked up the lone assist.
In attempt to change momentum and as a response to the hit on Raffl, Giroux would drop the gloves with Leddy at 5:35.
Scott Laughton would send the Islanders to power play at 5:49 when he was called for hooking. Once again the Flyers penalty killers were up the challenge.
New York would out shoot the Flyers 12-6 in the second and held the 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Flyers started the third period with the same jump they began the game with. Unlike the first period, the Islanders stayed disciplined and blocked shot after shot to remain up 2-1.
New York would add an empty net goal late to make it a 3-1 final. New York outshot Philadelphia 36-18 for the game.
The Flyers are in action again on Friday when they take on the Nashville Predators.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
