Takeaways: Palmieri Lifts Isles to 4-3 Win Over Flyers

Kyle Palmieri broke a 3-3 tie in the final minute of the third period on Monday night, as the New York Islanders skated to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena.

Mathew Barzal (PPG), Kyle MacLean and Anders Lee (PPG) also scored for the Islanders, who led, 1-0 and 3-1, but found themselves having to grind against a young Flyers team that wouldn’t quite go away.

“It was not our best, but what I like is we found a way to win, and I think that's a good sign,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “There are going to be nights when we're not going to play our best hockey, and we need to stick to it and making sure that we play the right way.”

Anthony Richard (PPG), Brendan Furry and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for the Flyers.

Jakub Skarek stopped 15 of 18 in his first full preseason game of 2024. Ivan Fedotov started the game for the Flyers and allowed three goals on 16 shots. Aleksei Kolosov stopped seven of eight in relief.

With the win, the Islanders improve their preseason record to 3-2-0. They’ll wrap up preseason play on Friday night against the Rangers.

TAKEAWAYS:

- The Islanders power play scored a pair of goals for the second straight game on Monday night, with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee each finding the back of the net. Barzal scored through a Maxim Tsyplakov screen at 18:43 of a low-event first period, while Lee deflected a bullet from Mike Reilly at 11:04 of the second period.

Despite going 2-for-5 on the power play, the Islanders felt their play with the man advantage was at times sloppy. While Barzal scored the game’s first goal on the man advantage, he had a giveaway that led to a Joel Farabee shorthanded breakaway in the second period.

At the end of the day, two power-play goals are two power-play goals and getting production from each unit was a positive to take away.

“I don't think it was our best or the sharpest, especially early,” Noah Dobson said. “We have to continue to keep working on it, get better at it, and obviously, coming to season, it's going be a big part of what we need to help us have success.”

While the power play scored twice on Monday, the penalty kill went 1-for-3 on the night and allowed a pair of goals in the win.

- Maxim Tsyplakov took a turn alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri on Monday night, finishing the night with one shot, four total attempts, one hit and three giveaways in 16:07 TOI.

While the Russian forward didn’t find his way to the scoresheet, he played a key role in Barzal’s power-play goal using his 6’3, 210 lbs. frame to set a screen in front of Fedotov.

“I thought he was good,” Roy said. “It was first game with these guys, and I do believe the more he is going to play with them, the more he is going to be comfortable and his game is going to continue to grow with these guys.”

- Kyle MacLean continued his impressive preseason, netting his second goal and third point in four games, when he deflected a sneaky pass from Casey Cizikas past Ivan Fedotov at 5:43 of the second period.

MacLean and Cizikas are expected to anchor the Isles new-look identity line in the wake of Cal Clutterbuck’s departure. The two centers didn’t play together often last year, but their energetic styles appear to be complimenting each other.

MacLean finished the game with one goal, four shot attempts and two hits in 11:51 TOI, while winning four-of-seven face-offs (57%).

- Jakub Skarek earned praise from Roy in the win, with the coach noting the young goalie’s composure. Tied 3-3, Skarek made a big save on a backdoor two-on-one rush to keep the game tied – and when the Isles went up 4-3, the Czech netminder made a big stop with about six seconds left.

“He could have been nervous, and I thought he was very under control,” Roy said.