5 Takeaways: Islanders Score 6-1 Win Over Flyers

The New York Islanders snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday night, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1 at Nassau Coliseum.
The Islanders came out with a vengeance, opening up a 4-0 lead in the first period en route to picking up their first win over the Flyers in four meetings this season. Casey Cizikas led the way with two goals, while Jordan Eberle, JG Pageau, Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey also found the back of the net.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 of 24 for his seventh-straight win, while Carter Hart turned aside 22 of 28 in the loss. Joel Farabee scored the lone goal for the Flyers.

ISLES COME OUT SWINGING:

The Islanders had played a lot of catchup against the Flyers in their three previous meetings, falling behind by at least two goals in each contest. That was not the case on Saturday, as the Islanders stormed out of the gates to go up 3-0 by the 10:03 mark.
Pageau started the goal parade, tucking in an Oliver Wahlstrom rebound for a power-play goal at 6:11. The goal was Pageau's 10th of the season and snapped a nine-game goal drought.
The Islanders made it 2-0 less than two minutes later, as Eberle also netted his 10th goal of the campaign. Thomas Hickey, playing his first game in nearly two years, circled the net and throw the puck into traffic and after Mat Barzal was denied, Eberle corralled and deposited the loose puck.
Cizikas put an exclamation point on the first half of the first period, stealing the puck of Nate Prosser at the Flyers blue line, skating in and snapping a low shot far side on Carter Hart.
"It speaks to the group of guys that we have," Cizikas said of the bounce-back effort. "The way that we came out here tonight and battled for each other was the biggest key. We went out there and we established what we wanted to right off the hop and we continued that for 60 minutes."
Alain Vigneault called a timeout after Cizikas' first goal, but it was the Islanders who scored next, as Cizikas deposited his second of the period off a Hickey rebound.
With the Flyers' 9-0 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday still fresh, Joel Farabee ensured the Flyers would not be shut out again, beating Ilya Sorokin with a wrister on a two-on-one at 17:52.
Playing with the lead for the first time against the Flyers this season, the Islanders put the game into cruise control. They held the Flyers at bay in a scoreless second period - that saw Philly outshoot them 11-7 - and then locked it down in the third, holding the Flyers to three shots in the final frame.
Beauvillier effectively iced the game at 9:45 of the third, intercepting Prosser's clearing attempt before potting his first goal in 10 games. Bailey got one for good measure on a similar play, intercepting Hart's clearing attempt before sliding a puck into the yawning cage.

HICKEY PLAYS FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY TWO YEARS:

As good as Saturday's win looked on the scoreboard, the feel-good story of the night was Thomas Hickey's return.
Hickey played his first NHL game in nearly two years on Saturday night, drawing in for Sebastian Aho on the blue line. Hickey's last NHL game was Game 4 vs the Carolina Hurricanes on May 3, 2019, as he spent almost the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign in Bridgeport, where he'd dealt with various long-term injuries.
"It meant everything, really," Hickey said after the game. "Just to be with the guys was big and to contribute was huge. It's a very emotional night. Really happy with the effort of the guys and that's the biggest thing. Just a lot of good feelings right now."
The veteran defenseman, playing in his 450th game as an Islander - tied for 11th all-time on the franchise's games played list for d-men - picked up two assists in his return.
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Pageau's PPG
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Cizikas' Second Goal of the Game
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Eberle Gets on the Board
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Cizikas' Second of the Game
Beauvillier Extends Lead
Bailey Scores Late
"He played really well," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Thomas is an outstanding person first and he played outstanding for not playing in a long time and going through some of the issues with his family. Just sort of battling. You talk about a character pro, there aren't too many people who are higher than Thomas Hickey. I think everyone in that room, everyone in our organization recognizes and everybody was really happy for him."
Hickey was named the game's third star, skating out to cheers from the Coliseum crowd.
"It's the best feeling I've had in a long time," Hickey said. "Obviously, personally and professionally it's been tough. There's people that you want to do things for to make them happy because we've had a really rough go. I've been thinking about my brother. I always wanted to just do good things while he was battling and fighting to just show him that you can play for him. That just carries over even though he's not with us. That's in the back of your mind. Those are the things you're thinking about. It's been a tough road, but it's worth it. It's worth that wait."

LINE CHANGES:

After two straight losses, Barry Trotz shook up his lines on Saturday.
Leo Komarov drew in for Kieffer Bellows alongside Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle, while Anthony Beauvillier and Michael Dal Colle traded places.
Hickey paired up with Scott Mayfield, while Nick Leddy was paired with Andy Greene. The re-jiggering seemed to ignite the Islanders, who got contributions from up and down the lineup, as nine different Islanders hit the scoresheet.
"I liked the way everyone stepped up," Trotz said. "Tonight, we used our depth. The forwards maybe had 17 minutes, which is on the high side for us. You had a lot of 13-17 minutes for every line. That's not bad. That was a team effort."

SOROKIN WINS SEVENTH STRAIGHT:

Sporting some new pads, Ilya Sorokin picked up his seventh-straight win for the Islanders on Saturday night.
Sorokin stopped 23 of 24, improving to 7-2-1 on the season. The 25-year-old was barrel over by Michael Raffl in the opening minutes on Saturday's game, but shook off the hit and stayed in the contest.
It wasn't an overly busy night for Sorokin, but he was good when he needed to be, stopping all 11 shots he saw in the second period. The Islanders made it easy on their netminder in the third, limiting the Flyers to three shots.
"The team helps a lot," Sorokin said through a translator. "Every time Ilya is on the ice, he feels the team is on the attack and that helps his work."

WAHLSTROM ALMOST GETS A GORDIE:

The scoresheet wasn't the only thing Oliver Wahlstrom hit on Saturday night.
Wahlstrom picked up a pair of assists in Saturday's win and also dropped the gloves with Oskar Lindblom at the behest of the Flyers' forward.
The 20-year-old held his own, landing a few shots before scoring a takedown, drawing cheers from the 1,400 fans at Nassau Coliseum. The assists and fight left the rookie a goal shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick.
"He's growing obviously. The offensive part of it," Trotz said. "I think it's good he gets involved. Guys were chirping him a little bit about certain in things and he stood up for himself. That's good, that's man's hockey right there."
The fight was Wahlstrom's first in the NHL, but third as a pro, dropping the gloves twice in Bridgeport. Wahlstrom now has 14 points (7G, 7A) in 25 games this season.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up a three-game set against the Flyers on Monday night in Philadelphia. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.