3 Takeaways: Islanders Edge Flyers 3-2 

The New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 at UBS Arena to earn their second consecutive win, marking the first two-game winning streak since Oct. 26 and 28.

Anders Lee and Brock Nelson (2G) scored for the Islanders, while Cam York and Joel Farabee scored for the Flyers. Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 of 36 between the pipes in the win, while Carter Hart turned aside 22 of 25 in the loss. 

“Right now we're just looking to build our game one game at a time,” Brock Nelson said. “Coming off a long trip and playing these guys two times in a short span. We wanted to come up with a good one and start the week off right.” 

The Islanders extended their point streak to four game (2-0-2) and halted the Flyers’ five-game win streak in the process. The Islanders also improved to 5-0-0 against their Metropolitan Division rivals at UBS Arena.

Cal Clutterbuck skated in his 1000th game on Wednesday night and soaked it in during a standing ovation at UBS in the middle frame. The veteran winger's silver stick ceremony is expected to be on Saturday at UBS Arena when the Islanders host the Flyers for their second meeting of the season.

ISLANDERS STAVE OFF THE FLYERS IN THE THIRD 

Third periods have been a sore spot for the Islanders of late, who were outscored 15-3 in the final frame over the past eight games, coming into Wednesday's game and 24-11 in the first  17 games of the season. The Islanders had a better effort in the third period against the Flyers, closing out the game to hold onto the win.

The Flyers outshot the Islanders 14-4 in the third period and produced a goal with a Joel Farabee backdoor goal, but thanks to some solid work by Ilya Sorokin, who could not be faulted on the Farabee goal, the Islanders were able to maintain the lead.

“They had they had a push into third, but we defended hard and defended well for the most part,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “They threw a lot of pucks in the net, and when our goaltender had to make some saves, he certainly did."

Sorokin earned the third star of the game with his efforts in holding down the fort in the final frame. The Russian netminder made a big save against Cam Atkinson rebound chance on a two-on-one and a also stopped a Sean Couturier in tight. Sorokin improved to 9-2-1 in his career against the Flyers.  

The Islanders scored an even goal differential in the third period for just the third time in 11 games, but after doing so in two of their last three, the Isles are moving in the right direction.

“We wanted to get on the attack and be aggressive but still play smart at the same time,” Nelson said. “To be able to get that third one, it was nice to get a cushion.”

NELSON BURIES TWO GOALS 

Brock Nelson had a strong showing offensively against the Flyers, potting two goals while extending his point streak to four games (4G, 2A).

Nelson scored the second goal of the game for the Islanders, redirecting a long shot from Adam Pelech to give New York a 2-0 advantage. That goal accounted for the 250th of his career.

Up 2-1, Nelson tacked on a goal to put the Islanders ahead by two. Adam Pelech carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the Flyers zone and passed the puck to Pierre Engvall, who found Nelson wide-open in front of the net. Nelson buried the feed at 42:33 for his 10th goal of the season and second of the night, regaining a two-goal advantage for the Islanders. Pelech and Engvall each picked up their second assists of the night, marking the first multi-point game of the season for both of them.

His second goal of the night in the third period was his 10th goal of the season and held as the game-winner.

“It was a nice job by Pelech and Engvall, driving their guys back and creating that space,” Nelson said. “It allowed me to skate into it and [Engvall] saw me for sure on the wide side.”

Nelson leads the team with 10 goals this season.

LEE OPENS THE SCORING

Scoring first was key on Wednesday night, as the Flyers entered the game with a 10-1-0 record when scoring first this season.

It happened fast, as Lee potted his second goal in three games to get the scoring started at 1:49. Oliver Wahlstrom got the puck loose for Lee to handle the puck along the boards behind the net. Lee drove to the side of the net and jammed it past Carter Hart.

“It's good to start the game with a lead,” Lee said. “We wanted to establish our legs and establish our game as early as possible, especially coming off the western Canada trip to get our feet under us. That’s our focus every night but getting one early tonight was always big.”

The captain took a team-high five shots, recorded a hit and blocked two shots in 13:30 TOI, earning praise from Lambert for his performance. 

“Not only did he score, but there was a lot of down low play from him, and his battle level was high,” Lambert said. “I thought he had a great night.”

NEXT GAME

The Islanders will head up north for their second matchup of the year against the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.