Flyers End Preseason with Loss to Islanders

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The preseason is officially over for the Flyers.

The build-up to Wednesday's season opener came to an unceremonious end with a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers opened the scoring just 2:21 into the first. Scott Laughton carried the puck up on a two-on-one with Michael Raffl and fed Raffl with a nice pass through the slot for the easy goal. Taylor Leier also assisted on Raffl's first of the preseason.

A couple power play chances for both teams came and went before the Islanders eventually tied the game up at 13:10. Off a face-off, Dennis Seidenberg got the puck at the top of the right circle and put a knuckler on goal that beat Brian Elliott.

The Flyers outshot the Islanders, 13-7, in the first period.

The Islanders got an early power play in the second and made the most of it. Devon Toews fired a point shot that went wide, but the rebound bounced out to Anders Lee who quickly put it home to give the Islanders the lead at 2:22.

Just 45 seconds later, Anthony Beauvillier beat Elliott with a quick shot from the left wing off a rush to extend the Islanders lead to two.

Thomas Greiss was solid in the second, stopping all nine Flyers shots, including a couple of close chances for the Flyers.

The Flyers had a 22-16 advantage in shots through two periods.

The Islanders opened the third by cashing in on another power play just 32 seconds into the period. Again, it was Beauvillier capitalizing with a one-timer from the right circle off a nice pass by Mathew Barzal to make it 4-1.

The Flyers finally capitalized on one of their power play chances at the 6:32 mark of the third. A point shot by Shayne Gostisbehere was deflected by Wayne Simmonds to cut the lead to two.

The Flyers had another power play immediately following the goal but failed to score. They also killed off a 1:20 5-on-3 for the Islanders later in the period.

Steve Bernier iced the game with 23.3 seconds left with an empty net goal.

Elliott played the whole game in goal for the Flyers, making 17 saves on 21 shots. Greiss also played the duration of the game for the Islanders, stopping 31 of 33 Flyers shots.

The Flyers finished the preseason with a 3-2-3 record.

Gostisbehere was not seen on the bench in the closing minutes. The Flyers are expected to announce the final roster shortly after the game.

Next up, the Flyers open the regular season, heading to the West coast for their first three games later this week. It all starts on Wednesday as the Flyers face the San Jose Sharks at 10:30 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Michael Raffl (1) (Scott Laughton, Taylor Leier) 2:21
• NYI Dennis Seidenberg (1) (Cal Clutterbuck, Stephen Gionta) 13:10

2nd Period

• NYI Anders Lee (2) PP (Devon Toews, Josh Ho-Sang) 2:22
• NYI Anthony Beauvillier (1) (Casey Cizikas, Ryan Pulock) 3:07

3rd Period

• NYI Beauvillier (2) PP (Mathew Barzal, Pulock) 0:32
• PHI Wayne Simmonds (2) PP (Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Voracek) 6:32
• NYI Steve Bernier (1) EN (Cizikas) 19:37

Game Statistics