By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
The comeback was nearly complete. The Flyers pushed the Islanders to the limit with overtime wins in Game 5 and Game 6 and had one game in front of them to potentially finish off another epic comeback.
It wasn't meant to be.
The Islanders struck for two goals in the first period and never looked back, holding the Flyers at bay all game and finishing off the series, as the Flyers season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in Game 7 on Saturday night.
The Flyers came out strong, getting four of the first five shots in the game and controlling a lot of possession. Then the Islanders got a chance and capitalized and it turned the period around.
Scott Mayfield started the scoring, walking in from the blue line and picking his spot with a shot off the far post and in to make it 1-0 at 9:27.
From there, the Islanders took eight of the final 10 shots in the period, and got another goal in the process.
The Flyers got caught puck watching and Carter Hart was down and out on the play as well, as Derick Brassard made some moves and held possession before getting a pass across the slot to Andy Greene with an empty-net to make it 2-0 at 13:12.
The Islanders had one power play that they failed to take advantage of late in the period, and got another one with under a minute to go in the first. Through 20 minutes, shots were 10-6 Islanders.
The Islanders did not score on the power play, but they continued to pour things on, outshooting the Flyers, 9-3, in the middle period.
Off a turnover by Claude Giroux, the Flyers got caught as Ivan Provorov fell down at the Islander blue line. That sent Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson the other way, and Nelson fired home another goal on an odd-man rush to make it 3-0 at 11:26 of the second.
In the third, the Flyers continued to be a team that had just run out of gas. The Islanders kept the pressure on, as shots in the third period were 7-7. With seven minutes left in the third, the Flyers made one last gasp by pulling the goalie, but Anthony Beauvillier scored moments later to put the finishing touches on the series.
In the end, Thomas Greiss completed the shutout with 16 saves. Hart made 22 saves on 25 shots in the defeat.
Box Score
1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
Islanders | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Flyers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- NYI Scott Mayfield (1) (Devon Toews, Jordan Eberle) 9:27
- NYI Andy Greene (2) (Derick Brassard, Brock Nelson) 13:12
2nd Period
- NYI Nelson (7) (Josh Bailey, Ryan Pulock) 11:26
3rd Period
- NYI Anthony Beauvillier (8) EN (Nelson, Bailey) 13:42
Game Statistics
Islanders | Flyers | |
Shots | 26 | 16 |
Power Plays | 0/4 | 0/2 |
Hits | 37 | 41 |
Faceoff % | 43.1% | 56.9% |
Giveaways | 10 | 18 |
Takeaways | 3 | 3 |
Blocked Shots | 22 | 17 |
Penalty Minutes | 9 | 13 |