Barzal’s go-ahead goal gives Islanders win
NEW YORK » Mathew Barzal responded less than 30 seconds after Philadelphia came back from three goals down in the third period to tie the score, and the New York Islanders got a big win over the playoff-chasing Flyers.
Barzal had two goals and an assist, scoring the tiebreaking goal with 6½ minutes remaining, to lead the Islanders to a 5-4 win Tuesday night as Philadelphia squandered a chance to move closer to clinching a playoff spot.
“It was a great response to a tough situation,” New York coach Doug Weight said. “It was nice to get that goal right away and we were able to hold it down (after that).” John Tavares also scored twice and Anthony Beauvillier added a goal and two assists to help the Islanders get their third win in eight games, but just the fourth in their past 20 (4-12-4). Thomas Greiss stopped 27 shots.
Nolan Patrick had two goals and an assist, Claude Giroux added a goal and an assist, and Wayne Simmonds also scored for Philadelphia. Petr Mrazek finished with 32 saves while falling to 6-6-3 in 15 games since being acquired from Detroit.
The Flyers lead Florida by four points for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after New Jersey won to jump one point ahead of Philadelphia for the first wild card. The Flyers and Devils each have two games remaining while the Panthers have three.
“Obviously it’s in the back of our minds, but if we want to get that playoff spot we got to do better than that,” Patrick said.
While the Flyers have beaten strong playoff-bound teams such as Winnipeg, Washington and Boston in recent weeks, they have lost to struggling teams such as Detroit, Dallas and the Islanders.
“Those teams are still good teams, not a lot of easy games anymore in this league,” Giroux said. “We didn’t earn that win tonight. We got make sure we come game.”
The Islanders appeared to take control with a threegoal second period to take a 4-1 lead, but the Flyers — who were 5-0-3 in their previous eight — tied it with three goals in a nine-minute stretch of the third. out strong next