For the enigmatic Flyers, who allowed a total of 18 goals in their previous three games, it’s been a wacky journey lately as they try to stay in the East Division playoff race.
Get blown out by the Rangers, 9-0, but rebound to win their next game.
Get blown out by the Islanders, 6-1, but rebound and play one of their best games of the season Monday.
Even if it was a loss.
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Anthony Beauvillier scored on a wraparound with 1:19 left in overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers did not resemble the team that was blasted by the Islanders two nights earlier. They won board battles, controlled the neutral zone, and generated odd-man rushes. They also limited their turnovers and played with much more urgency.
But they couldn’t close the deal.
The Flyers are now 3-1-1 against the Islanders this season. They are two points behind Boston for the East’s fourth and final playoff spot. Boston has two games in hand.
The Islanders tied the score at 1-1 as Oliver Wahlstrom scored on a wild scramble in front of goalie Brian Elliott with 15:54 left in regulation. Elliott appeared to have the puck covered for a split second, but it squired loose and Wahlstrom capitalized.
Elliott, who had been pulled from his previous two starts, made a big stop on Leo Komarov from in close with a little over five minutes left in regulation.
With 1:49 to go, the Flyers went on a power play, and a diving Ilya Sorokin made a great glove save on a left-circle shot by Claude Giroux that deflected off of defenseman Scott Mayfield, changed speeds, and nearly got into the net.
The Flyers dominated in shots, 37-15, in regulation, but Sorokin stood tall.
The Flyers failed to connect on three two-on-ones in the first half of the game, but at least they were creating opportunities and keeping the Isles on their collective heels.
With 7:57 left in the second, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead on Oskar Lindblom’s third goal in the last three games. Giroux did the heavy lifting, circling behind the net and coming out front and throwing a shot that deflected off Lindblom’s skate and past Sorokin.
The Flyers controlled the opening period, and only Sorokin’s brilliant goaltending kept the game scoreless heading into the intermission. Sorokin, 25, has had great success in Russia’s KHL and is having a strong rookie NHL season.
Sorokin robbed Nolan Patrick twice from point-blank range and denied Travis Konecny on the doorstep as the Flyers held a 12-4 shot advantage in the opening period.
On a two-on-one, Patrick took a great feed from Nic Aube-Kubel, but Sorokin wouldn’t bite on his move and he made a pad save with 1:11 left in the first.
The Flyers dominated all phases of the first period, including hits (12-2) and faceoffs (12-4), and they had much more structure and a better forecheck than in recent games.
Sean Couturier, who returned to the lineup after missing one game with a hip injury, had three first-period shots and won all six of his faceoffs.
Alain Vigneault inserted Shayne Gostisbehere into the lineup, benched Nate Prosser, and changed all three defensive pairings from the units that were together in Saturday’s five-goal defeat at Nassau Coliseum. Gostisbehere was paired with Ivan Provorov on the top unit, Travis Sanheim was with Justin Braun, and Erik Gustafsson was with Phil Myers.
The defense tightened its gaps considerably Monday, and the Flyers got better play from their backchecking forwards. Entering the third period, they had a 26-10 shots domination and were trying to finish one of their best 60-minute efforts of the season.
In their first 11 March games, the Flyers had been outscored by 19 goals over the first two periods, so taking a 1-0 lead into the third period was a welcome change.
But the Islanders would not go away, showing why they had outscored the Flyers in the third period, 7-1, in the teams’ first four meetings this season. Make it 8-1 in their last five meetings.
