A Sorokin shutout and goals from Holmstrom, Gatcomb, and Palmieri keep the wins coming.
The New York Islanders continue to be red hot this month, now boasting the longest active win streak in the NHL. Which is definitely where we all thought they’d be at the end of January.
Goals from Simon Holmstrom (who now has 3 in 2 games), Marc Gatcomb (who picked up his first NHL goal ever), and Kyle Palmieri (snapping a multi-game scoreless streak) gave the Isles enough offense to shut down the Flyers, and Ilya Sorokin was great throughout the game, earning himself another shutout.
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First Period
The Flyers went after Max Tsyplakov early, apparently still mad about the hit on Ryan Poehling a few games ago that earned Tsyplakov a three game suspension. Scott Laughton fought Tsyplakov, and that pretty much got that out of the way for the rest of the game.
Ilya Sorokin was strong early in the game and throughout, making some aggressive saves.
Adam Pelech drew blood on a high stick on Travis Konecny, which sent him to the box for four minutes. On the double minor, Matvei Michkov scored, but the Islanders challenged the goal for interference. Once again, the Isles won the challenge, since Morgan Frost had made slight contact with Sorokin in the crease. JG Pageau nearly turned the tides with a shorthanded chance, but Ivan Fedotov made the save.
Second Period
The Islanders went to the power play early after Bo Horvat got taken out on a breakaway, but the Flyers killed the penalty.
Sorokin made a save on a 2 on 1, but he struggled to control the rebounds that shift, leading to an extended Flyers push. But, it wouldn’t matter, because he stood tall and kept the Flyers off the board.
Simon Holmstrom opened up the scoring, finding a loose puck off a blocked shot. He got into the slot and wristed it past Fedotov.
Noah Cates had a chance to tie the game with a point blank chance on Sorokin, but Sorokin got the save with the shaft of his stick.
Bobby Brink was called for high sticking Anthony Duclair, and on the Isles power play, they had some good chances, but couldn’t get anything past Fedotov.
Then, Marc Gatcomb got the puck from Kyle MacLean on a 2 on 1 and scored his first NHL goal. He looked absolutely pumped as he made it 2-0, mostly against the momentum of the period.
Alex Romanov continued his good play as of late, and broke up a 2 on 1 for the Flyers.
Third Period
Halfway through the third, Kyle Palmieri broke his scoring drought and made it 3-0 Islanders, pretty much putting the game away.
The Flyers had a late power play chance when Scott Perunovich was called for closing his hand on the puck, but the best chance of that was a Horvat shot shorthanded that was saved by Fedotov.
The Islanders held onto their lead, and Ilya Sorokin picked up a shutout as they earned their sixth-straight win.
Up Next
Next, the Islanders head down to Florida for the first half of their back to back, taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night as they go for their seventh straight win.