Lindblom’s Late Goal Lifts Flyers to Win Over Islanders

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Through two periods, the Flyers looked like a team determined to make Wednesday's embarrassing defeat a thing of the past. They had established a 3-0 lead and seemingly had the game in control.

Then slowly as the third period progressed, it slipped away. The Flyers were left with the challenge of digging deep down to find the will to win a game they needed to have. Leave it one of the strongest guys on the team, a heart and soul player the Flyers have rallied around before, to deliver the winning goal. Oskar Lindblom's second goal of the game with 2:22 remaining gave the Flyers the edge in a 4-3 win over the Islanders on Thursday night.

Both teams had opportunities in the first period to strike first. The Flyers got a four-minute power play that they couldn't cash in on, and the Islanders also had a power play go by the wayside. The Islanders also hit the post twice in the opening period.

Otherwise, it was a typical tight-checking period. The Flyers had the 9-8 edge in shots through 20 minutes.

Just 2:26 into the second, a hard-working shift produced the game's first goal. Travis Konecny controlled upon entering the zone and centered for Claude Giroux. His shot was stopped, but Lindblom was at the net and put home the rebound to make it 1-0.

Just past the midpoint of regulation, the Flyers struck again. Lindblom did the hard work behind the net to win a battle, then Konecny got it back to the point for Nate Prosser to release a shot that was deflected in by Giroux, making it 2-0.

With 5:59 remaining in the period, the Flyers cashed in on an odd-man rush. A 3-on-2 led by Kevin Hayes was finished off by Jake Voracek after a nice cross-ice pass to make it 3-0.

The Flyers held off a late push by the Islanders in the period, finishing with the three-goal lead and a 21-13 lead in shots.

In the early stages of the third, the Flyers kept up the hard work and limited the Islanders chances. But at the 7:53 mark of the period, the Islanders finally broke through. Michael Dal Colle got off a wrist shot that beat Carter Hart to make it 3-1.

With 8:32 left in the third, the Flyers had to go to the penalty kill and managed to kill it off. But shortly after, the Islanders struck again, as Sebastian Aho got space off a clean entry and beat Hart to the glove side to make it 3-2 with 6:07 to play.

Just 34 seconds later, the Flyers had their first true defensive breakdown of the game that cost them. Oliver Wahlstrom was left wide open on the backdoor, and Nick Leddy found him with the pass. Wahlstrom's shot just barely got through Hart to tie the game with 5:33 remaining.

But the Flyers responded, as Lindblom got his second goal of the game on a one-timer from the slot with 2:22 remaining to put the Flyers back in front. 

The Flyers held on in the closing moments of the third, finishing off a must-win night with the victory.

Hart made 22 saves in the win. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves in the loss.

Konecny had three assists. Lindblom and Giroux each had two-point nights. Leddy had three assists and Dal Colle had a goal and an assist.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Saturday night to face the Islanders again. Game time is 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• PHI Oskar Lindblom (3) (Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny) 2:26
• PHI Giroux (7) (Nate Prosser, Konecny) 10:04
• PHI Jake Voracek (5) (Kevin Hayes, Scott Laughton) 14:01

3rd Period

• NYI Michael Dal Colle (1) (Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey) 7:53
• NYI Sebastian Aho (1) (Leddy, Dal Colle) 13:53
• NYI Oliver Wahlstrom (7) (Leddy, Adam Pelech) 14:27
• PHI Lindblom (4) (Konecny, Phil Myers) 17:38

Game Statistics