Leddy lifts Islanders past Flyers
Defenseman Nick Leddy snapped a shot past Philadelphia goalie Brian Elliott 2:44 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 5-4 victory over the Flyers on Friday.
Rookie Mathew Barzal, Cal Clutterbuck, Jordan Eberle and Andrew Ladd scored in regulation and Thomas Greiss made 26 saves to help the Islanders win for the fifth time in six games. They moved six points ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Ladd tied it with 7:49 left, scoring off a pass from Eberle from about 5 feet in front of the crease.
Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Couturier scored in the second period for the Flyers. They blow a 4-2 lead in the third to lose for the seventh straight time. The Islanders also beat the Flyers in overtime Wednesday night, a 4-3 decision in Brooklyn.
Brian Elliott made 32 saves for Philadelphia.
The Islanders drew within a goal at 4:12 of the third on Eberle’s second power-play goal of the season. The goal came after it appeared Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek drew a hooking penalty on John Tavares. However, it was Voracek who went to the penalty box. It was the ninth power-play
goal allowed by the Flyers in five games and the sixth power-play goal scored by the Islanders in five games.
After Greiss stopped Flyers rookie Nolan Patrick on a penalty shot with just under 3 minutes remaining in the opening period, Barzal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with his sixth goal with 14.1 seconds remaining in the period.
The Flyers, who have not won a game since Nov. 9, took over in the second period, scoring four goals on seven shots. Giroux tied it with a one-timer from the high slot at 3:49 and Simmonds gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead when he put Gostisbehere’s rebound past Greiss for his first goal in 15 games.
Clutterbuck’s deflection goal, his fourth of the season, tied it at 2, but back-toback goals by Gostisbehere and Couturier gave the Flyers a two-goal cushion. Gostisbehere’s goal, his second of the season, snapped a 13game drought.
Couturier’s goal, his team-high 13th, came on an aggressive forecheck by Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, who extended his points streak to four games.
NOTES: Islanders LW Jason Chimera played in his 210th consecutive NHL game, the longest current streak on the club . ... The Flyers had three rookie defensemen in their lineup — Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg and Samuel Morin — with a combined 44 games of NHL experience.