Islanders win nine-round shootout, hand Flyers ninth straight loss

PHILADELPHIA --The New York Islanders handed the Philadelphia Flyers their ninth straight loss, 4-3 in a nine-round shootout at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Oliver Wahlstrom scored the only goal of the shootout after Casey Cizikas tied the game with 4:28 remaining in the third period for the Islanders (13-13-6), who swept the back to back and are 6-1-1 in their past eight games. Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves and was perfect in the shootout.
The Islanders defeated the Flyers 4-1 at New York on Monday.
"I thought it ended up being a pretty even game," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Both teams were skating, both teams were playing pretty well. We just battled away."

Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (13-18-8), who are 0-6-3 during the skid. Carter Hart made 28 saves.
Philadelphia is 0-4 in the shootout this season and has yet to score in 16 attempts.
"We know we're playing the right way right now," Giroux said. "Tonight, maybe we did deserve to win. At this point we're just finding ways to lose hockey games."
Giroux's goal at 4:05 of the third period gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead. Cizikas tied it when he outmuscled Philadelphia defenseman Justin Braun at the net and knocked in Scott Mayfield's centering pass to make it 3-3.
It was Cizikas' second straight game with a goal after he went his first 24 games this season without one.
"It feels good," the forward said. "We're working right now. I just tried to bust up the ice and get to the front of the net. It just comes from hard work. Just keep going.
"I thought in the third period we played well. Even when we went down, we kept pushing, kept trying to put pucks in the net."

Robin Salo scored his first NHL goal at 2:08 of the first period to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. It was the defenseman's 13th game.
James van Riemsdyk tied it 1-1 at 14:39 with a power-play goal. Cam York's shot from the point bounced off the end boards into the crease, and van Riemsdyk shot it past Varlamov.
Josh Bailey gave New York a 2-1 lead at 13:28 of the second period. Travis Konecny tied it 2-2 at 13:54 when he scored on a loose puck in the crease. Konecny has scored in back-to-back games after going 20 without a goal.
"Losing [stinks], there's no other way around it," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "It's difficult because you see the effort that was put in tonight, the way guys were blocking shots, paying a price for each other. It felt like a lot of the areas of our team game were really strong. We didn't come up with the win, so that's what we take out of this one. That's what me and the staff have to do right now, make sure that we stay focused, motivated, handle it the right way.
"It's adversity, it's difficult. [We're] seeing progress in our game, but it's hard to sit here when you're in a losing streak like this and feel good about progress. But we have no other choice but to keep getting better."

It was the Islanders' fifth game this month (4-1-0) and their first road game since Dec. 14. Their 32 games played are tied with the Ottawa Senators for fewest in the NHL.
"It's been a real difficult year for us," Trotz said. "We feel like we've been part of the league, and then we're not. It's felt like we're an independent college team and we're randomly playing. … We've got to make up some games. They're going to be compressed and it's a challenge, but I think this group's up for the challenge.
"The confidence comes with playing well. It's starting to grow. The trust is starting to grow, which is key."
NOTES: Wahlstrom's shootout goal was New York's first this season in 16 attempts. … Philadelphia forward Joel Farabee scored with 8:48 remaining in the first period but the goal was overturned after a replay showed the Flyers entered the zone offside. … New York has won six straight in Philadelphia, dating to March 20, 2021. The Islanders won five in a row here three previous times: Dec. 26, 1981-Feb. 18, 1982; Nov. 28, 1992-March 30, 1993; and Jan. 18-April 7, 2007. ... Bailey has scored six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games. … The Flyers played without forward Kevin Hayes, who is expected to be out 3-4 weeks after he had surgery Tuesday to drain fluid from the adductor region of his hip.