On Saturday morning, Trotz said someone was going to be a hero that night and the Isles had a pair of unlikely ones on their first two goals.
Mayfield's first-career playoff goal - in his 26th playoff game - opened the scoring at 9:27, as his sharp, far-side wrister eluded Carter Hart. The goal held up as the game-winner and was poetic justice for Mayfield, whose stick snapped in half on the sequence that led to the Flyers double-OT winner on Thursday night.
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"I was kind of down the past couple of days after breaking my stick there in OT, so it was a confidence boost," Mayfield said. "Game-winner in Game 7 to go to the Eastern Conference Finals, I don't think anyone thought I'd be scoring it."
Greene, a defensive-defenseman by trade, made it 2-0 at 13:12, shooting into an empty net after a crafty setup from Derick Brassard. Brassard showed great patience with the puck, letting a screen develop in front of Hart before threading a pass over to the pinching d-man. The goalie didn't see the pass before it was too late, leaving Greene with the easy finish.
With the goals, Mayfield and Greene became the second and third Isles' d-men to score in a Game 7, joining Denis Potvin (1978 quarterfinals, 1987 division final).
The Islanders turned up the heat in the second period, outshooting the Flyers 6-1 in the first 10 minutes, not including a pair of posts from Anthony Beauvillier and Philippe Myers. Nelson made it 3-0 at 11:26, finishing off a two-on-one rush with Josh Bailey.
Nelson's goal was his seventh of the postseason, while Bailey picked up his team-leading 14th assist and 16th point. Nelson finished the game with three points (1G, 2A).
The ice was tilted heavily in the Isles favor through 40 minutes, with only a handful of Flyers chances causing some tension. Jakub Voracek redirected a Sean Couturier shot off the post in the opening minutes, but after the Isles avoided a nearly-disastrous start, they controlled a bulk of the game.
The game script went according to plan for the Isles, who netted at least three goals for an eighth-straight game, and got back to their stingy defensive identity. They continued to press in the third period, with Beauvillier icing the game with an empty-netter at 13:42 and even then, they continued to push forward.
"Whenever you have a lead you can't sit back," Nelson said. "It was nice to get that third one and go up a bit more... We did a good job staying on it and not sitting back and kind of waiting for a wave from them."