Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out Flyers 4-0

Two days after a shutout loss, the New York Islanders responded with a 4-0 shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

JG Pageau led the charge with two goals, including a shorthanded goal that held as the game-winner, while Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) and Tony DeAngelo (PPG) also scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season and the 28^th of his career.

“The team played a solid game in front of him, it made the work a lot easier,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “Not saying it was an easy shutout, there’s no such thing as an easy shutout. He made big saves when he had to.”

A regulation win was important for the Isles who entered the night two points ahead of the Flyers in the standings and widened their gap to four points while maintaining their third-place status in the Metropolitan Division.

“It was a big game, we knew where we were in the standings,” Bo Horvat said. “It’s a big one for our group, we have to carry that momentum into our next game at home.”

TAKEAWAYS

- After an early first period penalty kill, the Islanders steadily tilted the ice, as they. They gradually built a three-goal lead over two periods and locked it down in the final frame.

“It was a solid team effort tonight,” Roy said after the win. “I thought that we played a 60-minute, solid 200-foot game. I was pleased with the effort from our guys.”

It was a strong night for the penalty kill, which was a perfect 3-for-3 and scored the eventual game-winner. Pageau lobbed a puck in on Samuel Ersson and Casey Cizikas chased after it, drawing two Flyers before sending a beauty of a no-look pass to Pageau alone in the slot, who buried his ninth of the season. The tally was also Pageau’s third shorthanded goal, which is tied for second in the league, while the Isles are now in a four-way tie for the league lead in shorthanded goals (7). Cizikas’ pass and Pageau’s finish sparked the team and built the foundation of a solid win.

“That shorthanded goal energized us and deflated them a little bit,” DeAngelo said.

- Barzal had a two-point effort, including his 359^th assist which tied Clark Gillies for fifth in franchise history, which included a key goal to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. The Islanders center deflected an Isaiah George shot past Ersson at the 5:41 mark of the middle frame and had a strong bounce-back game after being benched in the third period of Saturday’s loss. Barzal was named the game’s second star.

- DeAngelo buried a power-play goal to extend the Islanders lead to 3-0 at the 12:50 mark of the second period. It marked DeAngelo’s first power-play goal as an Islander and eighth power play point through 87 games across his two seasons with the team. DeAngelo also led the team with seven shots, which marked a season-high.

- Simon Holmstrom (sick) missed Monday’s contest, while Max Tsyplakov drew back into the lineup as a result and skated on his line with Anders Lee and Pageau. He tallied an assist and two hits in 10:04 TOI, and made a teriffic backhand pass across the Flyers zone to feed Pageau for his second of the night to make it 4-0. It also marked Tsyplakov’s first assist of the season.

“It was probably one of his best games this year,” Roy said of Tsyplakov.

- The team announced before the game that Cal Ritchie is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Ryan Pulock (upper-body) missed his second straight game and did not join the team on the road trip.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders host the New York Rangers on Wednesday for a back-to-back, home-and-home set against their crosstown rivals. Puck drop is set for 7PM at UBS Arena.