Lost scoring touch leads Flyers to fast deficit

Fresh off a six-game series against Montreal in which their play in the defensive zone carried the day, the Flyers got a hard introduction into a different brand of playoff hockey Monday night.

The New York Islanders can attack with vigor when the situation warrants, and they can shut down any scoring-capable team as effectively as anyone, too.

Against a currently goal-challenged Flyers squad, that equated to a 4-0 Islanders victory at Scotiabank Arena in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Flyers reverted back to the team of sleepy starts they were for so long until Alain Vigneault and Co. changed their ways during the season.

Aside from a goal by veteran Isles defender Andy Greene, they

survived their slow start and started buzzing the Islanders’ zone better than they had been able to at any point in the series against Montreal. Unfortunately for the Flyers, they still went to the second intermission without anything on the scoreboard.

Thus stymied, the Flyers were blown away by the Isles’ penchant to capitalize on mistakes in the third, and a tight game blew up amid goals about six minutes apart by J.G. Pageau and Anders Lee. That allowed the Isles to kick into shut-down mode and aside from an Islander goal courtesy of Vigneault’s decision to pull Carter Hart with nearly eight minutes left to play, all was soon at an end.

“We created a couple of good chances. We had a 2-on-1, if I’m not mistaken, in the first, and then we had a breakaway,” Jake Voracek said. “We have to find a way to put those in, then follow up in the second period. If we had scored a goal in that first or second period the game would have been a little different. But you can’t win if you don’t score, so there’s that.”

There was that all over in the series against the Canadiens, the Flyers getting only 11 goals in six games. Yet their defensive stubborness and two fantastic Hart outings proved enough. That will not be the case with the Islanders, who possess one of the most balanced lineups of the remaining playoff teams.

“I thought our line had some good chances all night, but you have to score to win games,” second-line center Kevin Hayes said. “You can have as many good looks as you want and pat yourself on the back, but if you don’t score, it’s pointless.”