Flyers top Islanders in 2OT in Game 6 of Eastern Second Round, tie series

Ivan Provorov scored at 15:03 of double overtime, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Islanders 5-4 in Game 6 to even the Eastern Conference Second Round series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.

Carter Hart made 49 saves, and Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, the No. 1 seed in the East. Each of the Flyers' three wins in the series has come in overtime.
"We've had two other games where we've won in overtime, so that was the message in locker room: Don't change anything, just play our game," Hart said. "That's what we did. We just needed to funnel pucks to the net, crash hard, and that's how you score goals, just grinding it out. That's what it was there at the end."
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Islanders highlights]
Game 7 is in Toronto, the East hub city, on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS).
Teams that win Games 5 and 6 after trailing a series 3-1 are 29-28 (50.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
Provorov, who led the Flyers with 38:15 of ice time, won it with a wrist shot from beyond the circles after a pass from Hayes.
"There's no doubt that this wasn't one of our better games," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "But at the end of the day we found a way to get the job done, we found a way to come back in the third and tie up the game against a team that doesn't give up a lot of leads. [It] took us two overtimes, but we found a way to make a play in the second overtime. Got a great shot and a goal that permits us to have a chance.
"That's what we wanted. We wanted to have a chance. If someone had asked me at the beginning of this series against such a strong opponent, one game, winner take all, I would have taken that."

Mathew Barzal and Derick Brassard each had a goal and an assist for New York, the No. 6 seed. Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves. The Islanders outshot the Flyers 53-31.
"We've just got to fight through a little adversity," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "The one thing that you do as a team is when you fight through adversity, you grow, you grow as a group. This is part of our process.
"This is a very good hockey team that we're playing, they're the No. 1 seed. We're pretty evenly matched. It's probably fitting that it is a Game 7."
Barzal gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the second period. Brassard swiped the puck from Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim to Barzal, who spun in the left circle and roofed a wrist shot over Hart.

Laughton tied it 4-4 on a breakaway with his fifth goal of the postseason at 9:53 of the third period.
"The frustration level is honestly about 30 seconds, and then that's about it," Barzal said. "There's nothing we can do. Game 6 is over now, and we've moved on."
Varlamov allowed two goals on the first three shots he faced in the first period.
Hayes made it 1-0 at 10:16 with a wrist shot from the slot. Van Riemsdyk scored on a slap shot from the left circle at 11:52 to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
"It was a tough game; he didn't get a lot of shots," Trotz said. "The start wasn't great, so we'll see. I thought he made some timely saves though, and those are tougher games to play. When you're on the other end getting a lot of shots, it's pretty easy to stay in the game. … I let him battle through it. He's been a big part of it for us."

Brassard redirected Devon Toews' pass moments after a power play expired to make it 2-1 at 16:33 of the first.
Matt Martin tied it 2-2 at 2:34 of the second period with a wrist shot from between the circles. The Flyers challenged for goalie interference, and the Islanders were awarded a power play. Anders Lee then scored with the man-advantage at 3:06 on a rebound to give New York a 3-2 lead.
Michael Raffl tied it 3-3 on a rebound at 13:21.
"Our season's on the line," Martin said. "We'll get out rest here; obviously, a couple of long games that we came up short in. We'll just get the energy back up, get our rest and find a way to win a big game.
"These moments don't come around often. Game 7s are special and we've got a chance to go to the conference final. Our goal is to win a Cup, so I'm really confident in the group that we have moving forward and I look forward to a big game a couple of days from now."
Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom played for the first time since Dec. 7. The Flyers announced he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, Dec. 13. Lindblom completed his treatment July 2 and joined the Flyers in Toronto on Aug. 11.
"I was trying to think positive thoughts throughout the whole chemo," Lindblom said. "I knew I'd play one day, but I didn't know when. Today was the day, and I was lucky to be out there and be with these guys."
NOTES: Philadelphia was without center Sean Couturier, who was injured after colliding with Barzal in the second period of Game 5. ... The Flyers could become the second team to win three straight games in overtime when facing elimination and win a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series. The Vancouver Canucks did so in the 1994 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Calgary Flames. ... The Flyers could become the second team to win four games of a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series in overtime. The Toronto Maple Leafs did so in the 1951 Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens (all five games were decided in overtime).