Islanders defeat Flyers for seventh straight victory

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders won their seventh straight game when five players scored in a 5-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday.

Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal each had a goal and an assist, and Derick Brassard, Ross Johnston and Ryan Pulock also scored for New York (8-3-0), which has outscored opponents 24-14 during the streak. Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves.
It's the first time the Islanders have won seven in a row since 1990.
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Islanders highlights]
"The feeling's great, it's what you'd expect," Lee said. "When we play the right way, we put ourselves in a good position, and we've done that. We're getting contributions up and down the lineup, from [Varlamov] and [Thomas Greiss] on out. Right now, we're just kind of playing that right way, getting pucks deep and doing those little things that really make it tough to play against and kind of tough to get chances."
Jakub Voracek, Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia (5-4-1), which had won three in a row. Carter Hart allowed five goals on 14 shots before being pulled at 8:46 of the second period. Brian Elliott saved all 19 shots he faced.
"I don't think we played our best," Giroux said. "[We had] an emotional game at home [Saturday] night (a 7-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets), and we need to find a way to kind of put that game behind us and move forward to another game. I don't think we did a good job of that tonight."

Voracek gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead 1:07 into the game when he redirected Travis Sanheim's feed after Sanheim intercepted Brassard's clearing attempt.
The Islanders quickly responded with goals 1:05 apart. Lee scored on a rebound of Johnny Boychuk's shot from the right point at 3:17, and Brassard extended his goal streak to three games with a one-timer from the right circle at 4:22 to give New York a 2-1 lead.
"You always look to your leadership and they're going to set the tone; Anders Lee was a beast today," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "His goal was a great example of leadership. Leadership is, you don't have a license to do less, you have a responsibility to do more. He knew it was a big game, and he did more."

Johnston, who was back in the lineup after Matt Martin sustained a lower-body injury during a 4-2 win at the Ottawa Senators on Friday, gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead when he one-timed Cole Bardreau's pass from behind the net at 11:46 of the first period. The assist was Bardreau's first NHL point.
"You don't ever want to wish an injury upon on anyone on your team," Johnston said. "But it's an opportunity and I'm looking to take advantage of it."
Konecny got the Flyers back within a goal on a redirection of Justin Braun's wrist shot at 16:38 of the first to make it 3-2.
But the Islanders again responded with two quick goals early in the second period; Pulock scored on a slap shot from the right point at 4:13, and Barzal broke in alone from the neutral zone and put a shot between Hart's skates at 5:38 to give New York a 5-2 lead.
"You got contributions from every aspect," Trotz said. "It was a good team win."

Hart was pulled during a timeout with 11:16 left in the second. He has allowed 12 goals on 43 shots over his past three starts.
"You've just got to find a way right now, and for me, I just have to find a way to get back into my old rhythm," Hart said. "Right now, I'm just not playing where I feel I should be at, and I know I'm better than that. I just have to keep working.
"I've been feeling really good in practice, but I think right now, just go out into the game and just play. I think I may be overthinking a couple of things, but I've just got to go out and play. Just play the game."
Giroux scored at 17:04 of the third period for the 5-3 final.

They said it

"We got behind this game very quickly. It's a good team that we're playing against, it's a real good team that defensively can shut it down and not give the opposition a lot. We obviously didn't execute as well as we have in the past few games, and we paid for it." -- Flyers coach Alain Vigneault
"Our team, I think we've been competing now for the last couple of weeks, we play for each other, it's been a lot of fun. Guys are stepping up, we have good goaltending, everything is clicking right now." -- Islanders forward Derick Brassard

Need to know

Konecny extended his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists). … Flyers center Kevin Hayes had his three-game goal streak end. … Philadelphia defenseman Samuel Morin made his season debut. Robert Hagg was scratched. … Eleven different Islanders had at least one point. … New York is 8-0-0 when it scores at least three goals.

What's next

Flyers:At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Islanders: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday (Nassau Coliseum; 7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, SUN, NHL.TV)