Flyers Edge Islanders in NHL Preseason Action at PPL Center
The tough decisions for Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall and the Flyers staff might've been made more difficult after tonight's split squad games against the New York Islanders.
Taylor Leier was the game's standout, scoring a pair of goals and playing a solid, consistent game in all three zones of the ice.
Robert Hagg and Shayne Gostisbehere seemed to gel really well together and they certainly compliment each other's styles of play well too.
Sam Morin showed a great presence on the penalty kill, and also declined an invitation to drop the gloves with Ross Johnston for a second (third?) time.
Travis Sanheim didn't get on the scoresheet but made plays with regularity.
Oh, and Nolan Patrick stepped it up in the third period and overtime when it matters most - setting up Shayne Gostisbehere in overtime for the game-winning goal an a pretty pass across on an odd-man rush.
Still a week and a half of preseason left, and decisions will ultimately be made, but for now a lot of those bubble players are playing well.
Quick recap of events after the jump.
RECAP
The first period began as a parade to the penalty box. The referees are certainly cracking down on slashing minors. Two were called - both on the Flyers - in the first 1:56 of the contest.
The Islanders cashed in on the two-man advantage after a tic-tac-toe play from Ryan Pulock between the circles to Josh Ho-Sang at the right wing dot across to Mathew Barzal at the bottom of the left wing circle. Michal Neuvirth had no chance to make a save on the sequence.
Sam Morin had a strong start to the first period, and made a wise decision to avoid dropping the gloves with Ross Johnston later in the period. Johnston tried to goad Morin into a fight in the rookie game between these two organizations last Wednesday as well.
The penalties continued all the way through to the final seconds of the period, with the seventh minor penalty of the night going against the Islanders with 8.6 left before the first intermission.
The Flyers didn't score before the horn sounded for the end of the first stanza, but they quickly tied things up with the carryover power play time in the second period.
After a sloppy line change by the Islanders, Dale Weise picked up a puck in the netural and skated down the right wing - chipping a puck across to Taylor Leier for a quick shot over Christopher Gibson's blocker 36 seconds into the middle frame.
GOAL GIF: Sloppy line change by #Isles sets up Dale Weise & Taylor Leier's 2-on-1 for the #Flyers first goal of the night. pic.twitter.com/oWexmrg7CJSeptember 21, 2017
A late second period power play gave Leier his chance for his second goal of the night. And did he ever finish it.
Oskar Lindblom got a puck to Shayne Gostisbehere at the center point, who sent it to Leier in the right-wing circle. Leier looked off the defender as if he was going to send a cross-ice pass to the left-wing but instead let go a quick shot through a screen that beat Gibson to the spot.
GOAL GIF: @23TLeier looks across the ice before roofing one from the circle through a Dale Weise screen. Leier's 2nd of the night. pic.twitter.com/1tr9X60rilSeptember 21, 2017
The Islanders applied pressure in the final minute before the second intermission, but some sharp (& timely!) saves from Michal Neuvirth and solid team defense by the men in front of him allowed the Flyers to maintain the one-goal lead heading into the third.
The Islanders appeared to not have the equalizer in them, but with the extra attacker on the ice in the final 1:30 of play they forced overtime - tying the game with 24 seconds left after Anders Lee blew past the Flyers defense down the left wing.
Leland Irving, in net in relief of Neuvirth to begin the third period, made the initial stop but no one wearing the black and orange was able to box out Lee from tapping in his own rebound.
A heads up play by Dale Weise on the end boards in the defensive zone sprung Nolan Patrick for an odd-man chance with Shayne Gostisbehere. Patrick made a perfect pass across from left wing to right wing to Ghost, who buried a knee drop one-timer past Gibson to give the Flyers the 3-2 decision.
GOAL GIF: Nolan Patrick to Shayne Gostisbehere. I bet #Flyers fans could get used to seeing this. pic.twitter.com/cYC28iCCCkSeptember 21, 2017
ROSTER NOTES
Michal Neuvirth (16 saves - 17 shots) got the start in net for the Flyers tonight, with Leland Irving (7 saves - 8 shots) coming on in relief to begin the third period as planned.
Christopher Gibson (17 saves - 20 shots) got the start in net for the Islanders and played the entire game. Jaroslav Halak was New York's backup goaltender tonight.
LINES - Flyers
Dale Weise - Jori Lehtera - Matt Read Oskar Lindblom - Nolan Patrick - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Taylor Leier - Corban Knight - Pascal Laberge Carsen Twarynski - German Rubtsov - Colin McDonald
Sam Morin - Mark Alt Shayne Gostisbehere - Robert Hagg Brandon Manning - Travis Sanheim
Michal Neuvirth - Leland Irving
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
1:24: PHI -(PP) Laberge, minor (slashing) 1:56: PHI - (PP) Knight, minor (slashing) 2:14: NYI - PPG Barzal (1) - Ho-Sang, Pulock 6:33: NYI - (PP) Ho-Sang, minor (face-off violation) 9:16: PHI - (PP) Manning, minor (slashing) 11:36: NYI - (PP) Johnston, minor (roughing) 15:40: PHI - (PP) Patrick, minor (holding the stick) 19:51: NYI - (PP) Nelson, minor (holding)
2nd Period
0:36: PHI - PPG Leier (1) - Weise 2:54: PHI - (PP) Sanheim, minor (cross-checking) 2:54: PHI - Manning, minor (roughing) 2:54: NYI - Johnston, minor (roughing) 7:12: NYI - (PP) Ho-Sang, minor (face-off violation) 10:30: PHI - (PP) Manning, minor (holding) 15:38: NYI - (PP) Johnston, minor (slashing) 16:24: PHI - PPG Leier (2) - Gostisbehere, Lindblom
3rd Period
7:07: PHI - Morin, minor (cross-checking) 7:07: NYI - Schempp, minor (diving/embellishment) 19:36: NYI - Lee (1) - Nelson
Overtime
0:53: PHI - Gostisbehere (1) - Patrick, Weise
