Rookie Kieffer Bellows and Cal Clutterbuck scored first-period power-play goals for the Islanders, who will play 20 regular-season games at their former home. Bellows also assisted on a second-period goal by rookie defenseman Sebastian Aho.
Trotz signed with the Islanders on June 21, three days after he resigned as coach of the Washington Capitals and two weeks after he guided the Capitals to the Stanley Cup for the first time since they entered the NHL in 1974.
"I really liked the first two periods for us," Trotz said. "I thought we did a lot of good things in terms of playing a little quicker. Third period, we're still learning to maybe play with a lead. We've really only had one practice where we worked on systematic type things. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I liked our commitment, I liked our willingness to go the distance on plays and be in good structure. It was a good start for us. I thought we were hard to play against and we defended a lot better."
Robin Lehner, signed as a free agent by the Islanders on July 3, made eight saves in the first 29:29. Christopher Gibson made nine saves to complete the shutout.
The Islanders, last in the NHL in penalty-killing in 2017-18, held Philadelphia scoreless on four power plays. Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim sustained an upper-body injury midway through the second period after a hit by Islanders forward Matt Martin and did not return. The Flyers said his status will be updated Monday.
The teams will play again in Philadelphia on Monday and at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
