Under a minute later Philadelphia again got caught in an odd-man rush when a line change was executed. Bo Horvat beat Fedotov rather easily after taking a pass from Mathew Barzal to give the Islanders the lead heading into the first intermission.

Fedotov made some key saves in the second, the first while the Flyers were on the power play. He just got enough of the shot to keep the Flyers down one. About a minute later he made another save although looked to be flopping around somewhat. But Fedotov was beaten clean on a Brock Nelson shot to make it 3-1. It was a save that needed to be made, particularly with a little less gas in the tank on the second game of a back-to-back.

Michkov break

Matvei Michkov was up ice and got a good pass in the second period for another breakaway attempt. However Islanders defenseman Isaiah George managed to cut down Michkov’s space. Michkov got a shot away that Ilya Sorokin swallowed up. In the third Michkov had another decent opportunity on a line with Owen Tippett but failed to score in close. A much needed two-day break before a home-and-home against the Devils Monday night should give Michkov and the team a bit of rest.

Cates looked fine, just not on face offs

Noah Cates was doing a lot of good things on this night, but hardly any of them were on the faceoff dot. Cates had won just two of eleven he took through the first two periods. He did have some shifts where he drove the play and was up 10-8 in chances for after 40 minutes. But when your leading skater for chances for is Erik Johnson (up 10-5) then you know your forwards aren’t having a great night. Especially when facing a rather stingy netminder in Sorokin to begin with.

Foerster firing

A horrid Islanders pinch led to a two-on-one with Tyson Foerster holding the puck. Foerster bore down on Islanders goalie Sorokin alongside Morgan Frost before beating him clean to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. It marked the 30th time the Islanders gave up the game’s first goal.

Needed something early

The Flyers needed a goal early in the third to give themselves a chance to get back into it. A few chances early didn’t have the desired result. Philadelphia didn’t look much like the defensive-oriented team most of the game, with a lot of the forwards cheating more up ice in the hopes of an odd-man rush rather than resembling tight five-man units.

The Flyers, down by two, pulled Fedotov with about three minutes to go. Despite having some sustained pressure, Philadelphia didn’t have much great chances but did have Konecny on the ice for a roughly three-minute shift.