Ersson makes 25 saves, Flyers top Islanders in double shutout

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Samuel Ersson made 25 saves, and the Philadelphia Flyers ended the New York Islanders’ three-game winning streak with a 1-0 shootout victory at UBS Arena on Saturday.

The shutout was Ersson’s first of the season and second in the NHL. He made four saves in the shootout.

“I think it's huge for us, just not to lose the momentum we built up here five games before,” Ersson said. “With this win, we get right back into the win column and keep building on what we've been doing since the start of this season.”

Tyson Foerster scored the lone goal in the fourth round of the shootout to win it for the Flyers (11-9-1), who had lost two straight, including 3-1 to the New York Rangers on Friday, after winning their previous five. Foerster beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin glove side.

“I was talking to [Flyers No. 1 goalie Carter] Hart before [my shot],” Foerster said. “Usually, after practice, I mess around with Hart, and I do that move quite a bit. So, he just told me, ‘Yeah, do it,’ and it ended up working.”

Sorokin made 40 saves for the Islanders (8-6-6), who extended their point streak to six games (3-0-3). He stopped three shots in the shootout.

It was Sorokin’s second shutout of the season and 18th in the NHL.

“I thought the effort was outstanding,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “I'm proud of our team. We've played a lot of hockey lately, traveled a lot lately, including last night. The four defensemen that played last night (5-3 win at Ottawa Senators) played a ton of minutes. And I thought it wasn't necessarily pretty at times. But I thought we gutted it out, and we battled, and I give our team full marks.”

Through the opening six minutes of the game, New York outshot Philadelphia 6-0.

By the end of the first period, the Flyers had outshot the Islanders 12-6, not allowing a shot on goal over the final 16:55.

Philadelphia also outshot New York 12-9 in the second period.

“We struggled in the first three or four minutes,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I don’t think anyone really wanted the puck, it looked like. We knew they were banged up on the blue line. Their defense had played a lot of minutes yesterday. So, we were just trying to get it in and start our forecheck. Took us three or four minutes to get there, but once we did, I don't think we looked back.”

Brock Nelson had a chance to give the Islanders the lead at 6:39 of the second, but Ersson stuck the left pad out to stop Nelson’s rebound chance.

Ersson stopped Julien Gauthier's shot at 11:23, whipping out the right pad on a wrist shot.

Travis Konecny had a short-handed breakaway 38 seconds into the third period after a Mathew Barzal turnover, but Sorokin got a blocker on the shot.

Joel Farabee failed to tap home a pass to the glove-side post for the Flyers at 7:54 of the third period after a feed from Ryan Poehling.

Philadelphia outshot New York 36-22 in regulation and 4-3 in overtime.

“I thought it was just one of those games where you’ve just got to bear down and try and keep it simple,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said. “Keep the shift short, and we battled, competed, and fought for a hard-fought point.”

NOTES: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was activated off long-term injured reserve and played in his first game of the season. He had three shots on goal in 17:49 of ice time. … Islanders defenseman Grant Hutton played 10:11 in his first NHL game since April 15, 2022, after being recalled from Bridgeport of the AHL on Saturday. … Sorokin became the eighth goalie to debut since 1929-30 with 18 shutouts prior to his 150th game.