Islanders push past Flyers, get 3rd win in row

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, helping the New York Islanders defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 at UBS Arena on Friday.

Anthony Duclair and Bo Horvat also scored, and Kyle Palmieri had two assists for the Islanders (20-20-7), who have won three straight games and six of eight. Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves.

“It was a good team effort. We were solid 5-on-5 from the start to the end,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “Our penalty kill had a big moment as well. The power play had some good looks. It was a solid team effort. And when you see your captain (Anders Lee) blocking a shot like he did at the end of the third period, it shows how our team is right now.”

Tyson Foerster scored for the Flyers (22-22-6), who lost 6-1 at the New York Rangers on Thursday. Ivan Fedotov made 24 saves.

“It’s a pretty easy travel day, right?” Philadelphia defenseman Erik Johnson said. “Just up the road, so I don’t put a whole lot of that [into the result], but it’s tough not to get any points on the back-to-back here. We’re in a tight playoff race, so it’s unfortunate, but I thought we played hard. But that really doesn’t matter. You have to get points, and we couldn’t do that.”

Foerster gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 14:14 of the first period. He kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and scored with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to the short side.

Duclair tied it 1-1 at 17:08, taking a pass from Nelson on a 2-on-1 and beating Fedotov under the blocker from the left circle.

Just 55 seconds later, Horvat gave New York a 2-1 lead on the rush at 18:03. Mathew Barzal fed Horvat, who one-timed the puck from low in the left circle to the short side.

“I thought we played with energy. We couldn’t score,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “The chances were 14 to 14. We make two bad mistakes losing our high man at the end of the first period. That cost us two goals. That’s the difference in the game for me.”

Sorokin stopped Matvei Michkov’s breakaway attempt at 8:13 of the second, preserving the one-goal lead.

Nelson extended it to 3-1 on another rush at 13:56, beating Fedotov to the glove side from high in the right circle.

“It was just one of those plays where it felt like the way they played, I could maybe find some weak-side ice, and be open,” Nelson said, “and obviously a great play by Palmieri to shield the puck and make a nice backhand pass to the weak side. So that's just one of those things where, I mean, it wasn't originally what we wanted to do to get out of the zone, but it ended up working out."

Horvat said, “We’re playing to our identity. I think we're playing to our strengths, and that's playing simple. We’re forechecking well. I think we're playing well, structurally and defensively, and we're doing a lot of little things like that, which is helping us for sure. I think we're limiting their opportunities and not giving up so many odd-man rushes. So we're doing a lot of little things right.”

NOTES: Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula (upper body) was a late scratch. … Johnson played his first game since Nov. 20. He had been a healthy scratch. … Duclair scored his 150th NHL goal. … Barzal (six points; two goals, four assists) and Horvat (six points; four goals, two assists) each extended his point streak to four games. … Nelson has four multipoint games in his past seven.