Consider it the latest bad interruption in a 2020-’21 season that the Flyers did not pass at all.
The Flyers suffered another loss to the stomach with a 1-0 decision for the Islanders in overtime Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Nick Leddy scored the winner for New York. His attempt at a pass went off Travis Sanheim’s stick and past Brian Elliott, who was apparently the strong loser in a quality goalkeeper.
The Flyers (20-18-7) have gone to the OT Islanders six times this season after doing so three times in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The islanders (28-13-4) have taken the last five meetings of the Flyers, four of which after regulation.
• The Flyers really competed and were the better team for two of three periods. They allowed only 13 shots during the first 40 minutes and played the North-South possession-based game which was a major step in their success for 2019-20.
So it had to be good to see for the Flyers, especially since they have allowed an NHL-highest 4.04 goals per game since the beginning of March.
On Sunday night, they could not take their chances, and head coach Alain Vigneault admitted that they were “walking on fumes.” The Flyers are likely to get higher percentage chances, but the effort and style with which they played will look better over time.
If the Flyers consistently play that way, they will win more games. It’s about conveying positives in the off-season.
• Elliott was strong in the net with 27 saves. He did not see much volume during the first two periods, but converted 13 points in the last frame.
Ilya Sorokin was a thorn in the Flyers’ notice. New York’s net loss is 5-0-0 with 144 saves on 150 shots in its last five times against the Flyers.
• The Flyers’ penalty death in 30th place turned the islanders away from two powerplays in the third period.
‘With all the time we spent in their region, in my personal opinion, getting the two average calls against us with everything they let go in the first two periods, there was just no right and they could get momentum out of it, ‘Vigneault said. “Moose came in and made some big savings for us.”
Wade Allison gave New York his second man-chance when he was whistled for holding Mathew Barzal. The 23-year-old power forward played in his third game with Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee. He finished with 13 strokes and two strokes in 13:17 minutes.
Hayes had five shots but could not bury one. The 28-year-old center has had a scorer during his last 11 games, without goals and two goals. Hayes knows his offense will come if he gets 200 feet behind.
He has a giveaway that gave New York possession before his winning goal.
“A combination of bad interruption and Hayesy makes a bad pass where we lose control of the bag,” Vigneault said. “We win the lead, we have a puck, we have to make a better pass and we do not. It’s too bad for Travis and Brian – Moose played really well, Travis played one of his best games so far that he is well controlled and skates, and unfortunately the shooter went off his stick when he tried to break the piece. ‘
• Alex Lyon was Elliott’s backup on Sunday as the Flyers planned to keep Carter Hart (lower body injury) off the ice. Hart was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday. The Flyers are scheduled to sit out Monday before returning Tuesday.
Nolan Patrick (upper body injury) and Tanner Laczynski (lower body injury) missed a second consecutive game. However, both skated at the club’s training facility on Sunday. According to Vigneault, the Flyers are merely cautious with Patrick after the 22-year-old center took a header in the game Thursday night.
• The Flyers saluted Oskar Lindblom in a moving way during the warm-up on the Hockey Fights Cancer night.
“A special evening,” Sanheim said. “I think that’s part of why we jumped so much tonight.”
• Cam York, who has been temporarily assigned to the Flyers taxi team, may soon return to AHL subsidiary Lehigh Valley. Here’s more information on when the first round in 2019 could make its pro debut.
• In a very unusual event this season, the Flyers have three days between games. They come next action when they visit the Rangers for a rugby set on Thursday (19:00 ET / NBCSP) and Friday (19:00 ET / NBCSP) in Madison Square Garden.
Sign in and rate Flyers Talk
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Youtube