New York, NY – In a tight, hard hitting game the New York Islanders (4-8-2) fell one goal short to the Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-2) by the score of 2-1 in hockey action on Saturday night. Philadelphia who was powered in the third period as Andreas Nodl connected on a wrist shot for the game-winner at the 14:35 mark.
The Flyers took the 1-0 lead when at the 18:52 mark Mike Richards (3) tipped-in a puck that was set up by Chris Pronger (3). It had seemed as if Richards stick may have been too high for the goal, but the officials ruled it as a good goal.
After the game Islanders keeper Dwayne Roloson had this to say of Richards’ goal, “he has been the type of player that has always had great hand eye coordination and has made those plays in the past.”
The Islanders had plenty of golden opportunities to try to take the lead in the game, showing some nice puck movement and stick skills. One of the highlights for the Islanders in the first period Trent Hunter had a sweet forehand-to-backhand shot that rebounded out to Matt Moulson, who tried to backhand it into the net.
Sadly though the Moulson backhanded shot could not find its way past keeper Sergei Bobrovsky. The Islanders also had a golden power play opportunity but could not cash anything in as they were out shot by the Flyers by a tally of 10-9 at the end of the first period.
Matt Moulson (6) and the Islanders took control of the offensive momentum, making the score 1-1 as Moulson connected on at the 7:31 mark on a power play goal. The Islanders who had three power play opportunities were able to cash in on the game-tying goal when Moulson, who was set up by James Wisniewski (10) and Roloson (1), made a nice move toward the Philly net on a nice wrist shot to tie the two teams up.
The Islanders continued to try to press their offensive momentum out shooting the Flyers by a tally of 23-15, as well as the physical aspect of their play as a flurry of hard hits and shots were dished out by the Islanders. In two scary moments for Islanders fans both starting keeper Dwayne Roloson and defensemen Radek Martinek were both shaken up during the course of the second period, thankfully both players were okay.
Trent Hunter was again oh so close to being on the highlight reel by grabbing a puck out of the air and trying to put it into the net, but the shot went wide as the physical play really stepped up as several scuffles broke out before the two teams went into the locker room with the score still standing at 1-1.
As the 13,078 tried to will the team on in the third period, unfortunately the Islanders lost momentum of the puck and their positive momentum. Radek Martinek tried to help the Islanders find their way again with two big hits, but the Flyers responded with big hits of their own. In the cage Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves for the Flyers, and on the other end of the ice starter Dwayne Roloson made 24 saves.
“I had no complaints about the effort the team gave me tonight,” said head coach Scott Gordon. “We were more competitive tonight which was better than our last two games against Carolina and Ottawa, but we need to find a way to put the puck into the back of the net.”
A big story for the Islanders offensively was the fact that they only cashed in on one power play opportunities. As New York had only netted one power play chance out of the six they were awarded.
“We should have scored more power play goals then we did,” James Wisniewski said after the game. “We lost tonight when we should have won.”
When asked about how the team is going to get out of the losing side of things Wisniewski had this to say, “With hard work, no one is going to sympathize with us so we need to start going out there and working hard from the beginning to the end.”
Then it was a wrister by Nodl (3) at the 14:35 mark, which was set up by Eric Wellwood (1) and Mike Richards (10) that helped extend the Flyers winning streak to six straight games. The Flyers were able to block more shots than the Islanders by a tally of 37-26, but the Islanders out hit the Flyers by a slim margin of 25-24.
Up next for the Islanders will now head to the West Coast for three tough games. The trip starts with a trip to Anaheim for a Wednesday night 10:00 p.m. face-off against the Ducks.
NOTE: “Special Hockey Day” was today-featured Islanders alumni assisting developmentally disabled children and adults in an on-ice clinic and exhibition. Long Island Blues was in attendance, the only disabled hockey team on the Island as well as other members of the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA). All the teams got to participate in an exhibition clinic. Special guest include former Islanders players Bob Nystrom and Benoit Hogue who helped the players run through drills.