It had the feel of a preseason game. Claude Giroux, Steve Mason, Wayne Simmonds and Mark Streit sat out as healthy scratches while the rest of the Flyers played in the 82nd game of the season, the final one before turning the page to the playoffs.
It was a sloppy game, but successful one for the Flyers, as they claimed a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders to finish the regular season with a 41-27-14 record.
The Islanders opened the scoring with two quick goals on Michal Neuvirth. First, Nikolay Kulemin scored his ninth of the season at 5:58. Less than four minutes later, Matt Martin scored his 10th, giving the Islanders the two-goal edge.
The Flyers answered with two power-play goals. Shayne Gostisbehere scored his 17th of the season at 11:15 to cut the lead to one. Evgeny Medvedev added his fourth of the season with eight seconds left in the first to tie things up.
The Flyers outshot the Islanders, 9-4, in the second and picked up the only goal. Scott Laughton found a wide open Michael Raffl for his 13th of the season to give the Flyers the lead.
The Flyers added two more goals in the third on goals by Laughton, his fifth at 5:50, and R.J. Umberger, his second at 11:10 on the power play.
Neuvirth made 16 saves on 17 shots, the fewest the Flyers have allowed all season, as the Flyers claimed the victory. The Flyers finished the game 3-for-4 on the power play.
The loss for the Islanders officially locked them into the first wildcard spot, meaning the Islanders will face the Atlantic Division winner, the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.
The next stop for the Flyers is Washington. Dates and times of the playoff games remains to be seen, but the destination is known as the playoffs will begin for the Flyers next week.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
