Flyers, Islanders split preseason opener

The preseason opened with many of the Flyers stars taking the ice at PPL Center in Allentown, while others made the trip to Brooklyn in a split-squad matchup with the New York Islanders.

With Dave Hakstol behind the bench in Allentown, the Flyers claimed a 5-3 win in Allentown. A full recap of that game is coming later.

In Brooklyn, the Flyers nearly mounted a rally after falling behind, 3-0, but fell to the Islanders, 3-0, to split the two games against the Islanders on Monday night.

The Islanders and Flyers nearly skated to a scoreless first period when John Tavares tipped a shot past Jason LaBarbera for the game's first goal at 19:04.

The Islanders added two more goals in the second. Anders Lee extended the lead with a power-play goal at 3:25 and Kirill Petrov scored at even strength at 13:09.

The Flyers would get on the board late in the second. Taylor Leier scored his first of the preseason from Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Nick Cousins at 19:09.

Early in the third, the Flyers cut the lead to one as Brayden Schenn scored at 1:33. Assists on the goal went to Scott Laughton and Chris Porter.

The Flyers had two power play chances in the third, but could not find the equalizer as the Islanders held on for the one-goal victory.

The Flyers return to the ice for their first home game of the preseason in Philadelphia. They host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.