UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Both goalies had bounce-back performances. The Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin was just one save better in the shootout.
The Islanders, with two goals from Anthony Beauvillier, matched the East Division-leading Capitals — who have played one fewer game — with 52 points with a 3-2, four-round shootout win over the Flyers on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum.
Mathew Barzal scored the shootout’s lone goal and Sorokin stopped Jakub Voracek to clinch the win for the Islanders (24-10-4), who opened this season-high, six-game homestand with an 8-4 win over the Capitals on Thursday
It marked the fourth time this season the Islanders and Flyers, who rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period on two goals from Claude Giroux, have gone past regulation.
Both Sorokin (30 saves) and the Flyers’ Carter Hart (22 saves) had been pulled from their previous start.
Sorokin allowed four goals on nine shots in a 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh this past Saturday. Hart gave up five goals on 11 shots in an 8-3 loss to the Rangers on March 25 and coach Alain Vigneault kept him out of uniform the next three matches to re-find his game in practice.
"Ilya has already proven to me from the start of the year his ability to bounce back," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Goalies have to have a short-term memory."
The Flyers’ defensive issues ran much deeper as they had allowed 30 goals in their previous seven games (2-4-1). That included a 6-1 loss in Buffalo on Wednesday when the Sabres snapped an 18-game losing streak.
Giroux ended Sorokin’s bid for a third shutout with a backhander that halved the Islanders’ lead to 2-1 at 6:38 of the third period. Giroux then tied it at 2 from the slot at 10:32.
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead — scoring the first goal for the first time in six games — on Beauvillier’s power-play goal at 12:01 of the first period off Matt Martin’s no-look, backhand feed from the right post. Samuel Morin had run Jean-Gabriel Pageau into the right wall and was given two minutes for interference at 10:32. The Islanders thought it should have been a five-minute major for boarding.
Morin had already fought Ross Johnston at 2:47, ending the burly left wing’s night as he exited to the Islanders’ dressing room after being punched in the jaw. The Islanders also lost rookie Oliver Wahlstrom for a stretch in the third period after a collision with Travis Konecny at 6:38 left him with a cut above his right eye.
The Islanders, outshot 10-3 in the first period, held the Flyers without a shot on a five-on-three advantage that lasted one minute, four seconds after Cal Clutterbuck was called for interference in the offensive zone and Casey Cizikas, on a shorthanded rush, caught defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere with a high stick at 16:06.
Beauvillier made it 2-0 at 15:40 of the second period, beating Hart from the slot off Barzal’s feed. Beauvillier stepped on the ice when Barzal’s left wing, Leo Komarov, lost his helmet and had to race to the bench.
Beauvillier is trending upward again in an up-and-down season.
He missed nine games from Jan. 26-Feb. 15 with a lower-body injury. He went seven games without a point from March 7-18 and Trotz eventually took him off Brock Nelson’s line and used him with Jean-Gabriel Pageau for four games from March 20-27.
Beauvillier had a goal in each of those four games before rejoining Nelson’s line, where he’s now played for three games.
Said Beauvillier, "Playing with Pager might have helped me find my game back a little bit."
