Islanders Blank Flyers in Preseason Opener

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers got the preseason underway on Sunday afternoon, sending a prospect heavy lineup to Long Island for the first game of the preseason against the New York Islanders.

The Islanders dressed more veterans and that paid off early with a pair of power-play goals in the first, carrying the Islanders to a 3-0 win over the Flyers in Sunday's preseason opener at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders got the game's first power play at 6:36 and scored 19 seconds later. Some quick cycle work allowed the Islanders to find a wide open Kieffer Bellows in the slot for a one-timer, beating Anthony Stolarz for the first goal of the game.

Another power play late in the first led to another goal. In the closing seconds of the power play, Casey Cizikas got the puck at the top of the right circle and fired a shot that hit the stick of Reece Willcox, slowing it down within reach of Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck was ready and buried his chance past the outstretched pad of Stolarz to make it 2-0.

After 20 minutes, shots were 9-5 Islanders.

There wasn't much action in the second period as the Islanders outshot the Flyers, 10-5, in the period. Both teams switched goalies in the middle of the period. Stolarz finished with 13 saves on 15 shots. Robin Lehner stopped all seven shots he faced. Alex Lyon entered for the Flyers and Christopher Gibson entered for the Islanders.

With 3:31 left in the period, the Islanders added another goal as a point shot by Sebastian Aho went through a heavy screen and beat Lyon to make it 3-0.

During the second period, Matt Martin threw a hit on Travis Sanheim that sent him into the boards. Sanheim left the game and did not return. Martin did receive a boarding penalty on the play. The Flyers announced that Sanheim would not return to the game and an update will be provided on Monday.

The third period came and went without much fanfare as the Islanders finished off the shutout.

Lyon made nine saves on 10 shots. Gibson stopped 10 shots to preserve the combined shutout.

The Islanders were 2-for-3 on the power play while the Flyers went 0-for-4. The Islanders outshot the Flyers, 25-17, in the game.

The Flyers return home and will face the Islanders on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NYI Kieffer Bellows (1) PP (Jordan Eberle, Mathew Barzal) 6:55
• NYI Cal Clutterbuck (1) PP (Casey Cizikas, Noah Dobson) 15:43

2nd Period

• NYI Sebastian Aho (1) (Jan Kovar, Bellows) 16:29

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics