Philadelphia Flyers rout New York Islanders with 6-3 win -NHL Update
Philadelphia barely let New York breathe in their Thursday night matchup as the Flyers routed Islanders, 6-3, at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
New York took the lead entering the matchup as Josh Bailey scored his eighth goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, giving Philadelphia something to think about.
"We were flat," Flyers’ head coach, Peter Laviolette, said. "Then we changed our attitude."
Matt Read boosted the Philadelphia momentum with his 17th midway through and Andrej Meszaros took the lead on their first power play opportunity of the night with Mark Streit out for holding.
It was hard for New York to bounce back after the Flyers heated up.
"They outmuscled us," Islanders’ coach, Jack Capuano, said. "They were stronger on their sticks. On three goals we had coverage, but they were stronger on their sticks, stronger on the puck than we were, and that's the disappointing part. We know they're
a big, physical team and they're good down low, but we had our opportunities. We have to battle a little harder one-on-one."
Josh Bailey added his second of the night, this time 50 seconds into the second round but it was a mimic of the first period as Philadelphia out again with two straight.
Jaromir Jagr and Matt Read scored back-to-back less than a minute apart, taking the game 4-2 entering the final period of regulation.
"It was a lucky shot," Jagr said. "I was looking for the rebound and it went in."
Scott Hartnell and Sean Couturier added two more for Philadelphia, securing the match from all aspects as the Flyers also managed to keep their penalties throughout the match at a minimum.
Kyle Okposo was the only Islanders player to score in the third as Ilya Bryzgalov was just too much to handle in the net as he blocked 21 of 24 shots.
Philadelphia dropped down recently in the stands as they now stand fifth in the Eastern Conference. Flyers are focused on moving up in the rankings as they face Washington Capitals on Sunday.
New York on the other hand, has the next against defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, on Saturday.
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