Cizikas scores 2 as Isles blitz Flyers
UNIONDALE, N.Y. » Casey Cizikas scored twice in New York’s fourgoal first period and the Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1 Saturday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Jordan Eberle, Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey also scored to help the Islanders end a two-game skid that followed a ninegame winning streak. Oliver Wahlstrom and Thomas Hickey each had two assists and Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots for his seventh straight win.
Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which has lost seven of its last 11. Carter Hart, who came in with a 3.70 goals-against average and .880 save percentage, finished with 22 saves.
The teams conclude their threegame series Monday at Philadelphia.
Sorokin had nine saves in the first, 11 in the second and three in the third to help the Islanders win for the 12th time in their last 15 (122-1) and improve to 13-1-2 at home.
Cizikas had a chance for his first career hat trick, but his backhand try in front went wide about 4 ½ minutes into the third.
Beauvillier made it 5-1 at 9:45 of the final period after he deflected a pass from behind the net by Philadelphia defenseman Nate Prosser. The puck went to Brock Nelson at the right side and he tapped back to Beauvillier, who quickly beat Hart for his third.
Bailey capped the scoring after intercepting a pass from behind the net by Hart and putting it into the open net for his fourth with 4:14 to go.
Leading 4-1 after 20 minutes, the Islanders had several chances to add to their advantage in a fast-paced second period. However, they missed on some shots, the Flyers blocked several tries and Michael Dal Colle hit a post about 9 minutes in.
New York outshot Philadelphia 13-9 in the first, scoring the first four goals — including three in a span of 3:50.
With the Islanders on the power play, Pageau knocked in the rebound of a shot by Wahlstrom to put the Islanders up 1-0 at 6:11. It was Pageau’s 10th of the season and 99th of his career.