Takeaways: Islanders End Preseason with 4-3 Win Over Flyers

The New York Islanders wrapped up their exhibition slate with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Emil Heineman broke a 3-3 tie with 2:54 to play in the third period, while Maxim Shabanov (PPG), Anders Lee and Adam Pelech (SHG) also scored for the Islanders. Travis Sanheim (SHG), Travis Konecny and Noah Cates (PPG) scored for the Flyers.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 18 of 21 in the win while Samuel Ersson stopped 23-of-27 in the loss.

With the win the Islanders finished the preseason slate with a 2-2-2 record.

TAKEAWAYS:

- Thursday was a mixed bag for the Islanders special teams, which both scored and allowed a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal.

The power play went 1-for-3 with a pair of shots in the contest. Its best moment of the night was a slick redirect by Shabanov on a centering feed from Maxim Tsyplakov to tie the score 1-1. There were some hairy moments for the man advantage, notably giving up a shorthanded goal to Sanheim 1:46 into the contest. The play started with a Matthew Schaefer pass into space getting intercepted by Christian Dvorak and turned into a shorthanded breakaway before Dvorak deked Sorokin and dropped a pass to Sanheim for the easy finish. That was the first of two shorthanded breakaways for the Flyers, who allowed another to Dvorak in the second period.

The penalty kill also had an active night, scoring and allowing a goal on the same infraction. Pelech’s shorthanded tally was the result of a well-executed pokecheck at the Islanders blue line that sprung JG Pageau on a breakaway. Pageau looked pass all the way – Pelech said he was 100% sure he was getting the puck – with the defenseman joining the play and cashing in. Head Coach Patrick Roy highlighted the Islanders ability to limit clean zone entries for the Flyers.

The penalty kill gave it back less than a minute later, as Cates’ power-play goal came at the end of a discombobulated sequence for the Isles, leaving a wide-open look for the forward.

“We're all kind of learning on the fly here,” Pelech said. “If we make that mistake tonight in preseason, we talk about it and hope that doesn't happen in the regular season. So the more reps we get, the more practice we get, the better we'll be at it. And just like anything we’re continuing to build on it.”

- Much was made of Heineman’s hard shot heading into Thursday’s game, but his soft hands wound up accounting for the winner. Credit Anthony Duclair for a great saucer pass to set Heineman up alone in the slot and the forward made a nifty move to open up Ersson and slip the winner five-hole. Heineman finished the game with a team-high five shots and a team-high five hits.

- Sorokin played his second preseason game on Thursday, stopping 18-of-21. It was hard to fault him on Sanheim’s shorthander or Cates’ power-play goal – and the lone even-strength tally was a Konecny shot through a screen. His best save of the night came on Dvorak’s second shorthanded breakaway in the second period.

- Shabanov scored his first preseason goal on Thursday, redirecting a centering feed from Tsyplakov during a second period power play. Tsyplakov finished the game with two assists, getting a chance to skate with Mathew Barzal and Lee.

- Lee scored his first goal of the preseason, snapping a wrister five-hole on Ersson from the high slot. Thursday was Lee’s second game of the preseason after the captain picked up an upper-body injury in the preseason opener. Lee was good to go for the exhibition finale skating 18:56 with two shots and one hit.

- The Flyers dressed what appeared to be a full NHL lineup on Thursday. The Isles had a veteran squad of their own, but were missing regulars in Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri, Jonathan Drouin and Tony DeAngelo. That meant Schaefer saw an NHL roster for the first time and there were some growing pains for the young defenseman, but Roy was encouraged with how he handled some early adversity.

"It was a tough first period, let's be honest, but I thought he bounced back pretty good," Roy said. "He kept his game simple, and that's how you have to do it. I don't think he let that affect himself, so that's where I'm proud of him."

- Calum Ritchie (lower body) left the game in the third period and did not return. Roy said the forward is day-to-day and will be evaluated on Friday.

NEXT GAME:

The next one counts, as the Islanders kick off the regular season on Oct. 9 in Pittsburgh.