3 Takeaways: Islanders' Point Streak Ends After 2-1 Loss to Flyers

The New York Islanders point streak came to an end at six games (5-0-1) as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
Casey Cizikas scored the Islanders' sole goal, while the Flyers received two-straight goals in the second period from Kevin Hayes, including one on the power play.
Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves on 37 shots in the loss, while Carter Hart made 26 saves on 27 shots in the win.

"They didn't have a lot of juice tonight, plain and simple," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Mentally they just didn't have the juice. We played okay, but we didn't execute when we needed to. We were fine, we didn't give up a lot of five-on-five chances tonight. We had a turnover on the first goal, and they had a power-play goal. We didn't generate enough, and we passed up some looks. We were just not really sharp, and I'll attribute it to everyone pushing hard this week, it's a lot of games. Just didn't have enough juice."

ISLES' FATIGUE OF FIFTH GAME IN EIGHT DAYS TAKES TOLL

The game against Philadelphia marked the second half of a back-to-back set and the fifth game in the last eight days for the Islanders. The fatigue was evident in comparison to an energized Flyers squad who were also a motivated group that played their second game without former captain Claude Giroux since his trade to the Florida Panthers became official last night.
Despite a fast start from the Flyers - who cycled the puck around their offensive zone - the Islanders weathered that push and exited the first period unscathed and held a 1-0 lead. At 12:50 in frame, a loose puck popped out to atop the faceoff circles right onto Cizikas' stick. The veteran centerman teed up his wind up and ripped a slap shot on net which took a fortuitous redirection past Hart to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.

The Islanders weren't so lucky as the game went on. The Flyers countered with a two-goal effort in the second period to take a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.
FLYERS 2, ISLANDERS 1
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KINGER'S CALLS
Cizikas' Slap Shot
Early in the middle frame at 4:22, Philadelphia converted on a successful forechecking effort. Joel Farabee stripped Sebastian Aho of the puck as the Islanders' defenseman curled around the goal. The scoring sequence unfolded as Farabee tapped the puck to Travis Konecny, who played Hayes on the backdoor. Hayes put in his first goal before Sorokin could slide across.
The Flyers doubled their lead 2-1 late in the period as Kieffer Bellows took a hooking penalty on Hayes at 6:46. A scramble in the slot exposed a loose puck. Farabee sent a feed out to the backdoor for Hayes, who roofed his shot over Sorokin's glove to give the Flyers their first lead of the game.
In the third period, the Islanders were outshot 11-8 and didn't match Philadelphia's desperation to come out of the game with at least a point.
"It was kind of an ugly game a little bit," Isles captain Anders Lee said. "A little bouncy, a little choppy. There wasn't a ton of flow. We were just trying to get our legs and trying to get it and got it at times, just wasn't one of those games when it was coming easy. There wasn't a lot of pucks out there to make opportunities, and you say that right by saying it got clogged up."

SOROKIN STAYS SOLID IN LOSS

Sorokin was solid in the loss with his 35 saves - even some signature jaw-dropping ones - but his record dropped to 21-13-7.
In the first period, the Islanders netminder was key - where the Islanders were outshot 13-6 - as he came up with timely saves on a fast start from the opposition. After gaining a 1-0 lead just over midway in the period, the Flyers pushed especially in the final minutes of the frame. Sorokin made a sequence of stops in the first period as he turned aside shots from distance and the subsequent follow ups.

In the third period Sorokin gave his team a chance as he came up with 11 saves. He made a huge toe save seven minutes into the final frame to keep the Islanders' deficit down to one goal as he slid across to deny a backdoor tap-in attempt from Max Willman. Just over midway in the period with the score still 2-1 in favor of Philadelphia, Sorokin stoned a breakaway attempt on James van Riemsdyk.

AHO AND BELLOWS DRAW IN LINEUP

Defenseman Aho and winger Bellows drew back in the lineup in place of Andy Greene and Cal Clutterbuck, who were both listed as day-to-day (maintenance) by the team ahead of warmup.
Aho was paired with Scott Mayfield on the Islanders' blueline. The 26-year-old Swede logged 15:53 time on ice, had three blocks, - including one where he fully laid out to block a Derick Brassard shot in the first period when the score was still 0-0 - had three hits and two shots.
Bellows skated alongside with Cizkas and Matt Martin. The 23-year-old winger played 10:15 of ice time, had two hits, three shots and took one penalty.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return to UBS Arena on Tuesday night to host the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.