The New York Islanders finally found a way to win in the Wells Fargo Center, beating the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1, Thursday night.
The Islanders hadn’t won in Philadelphia in their last 13 tries, dating back to April 7, 2007. With a strong, team effort, 14 proved to be the lucky number.
“It’s nice to come out on the winning side, especially in this building,” Josh Bailey said. “I thought we deserved to win the last one [Jan. 12], but we fell short.”
Evgeni Nabokov was rock solid, turning aside a season-high 40-of- 41 shots. His bid for a second straight shutout was ended at 10:48 of the third period by Flyers rookie Matt Read. Nabokov held the fort after the Flyers turned up the pressure for the final nine minutes, and has now won four of his last five starts.
“When they found their legs, they were coming pretty hard,” Nabokov said. “But we pushed back and we scored timely goals again.”
Bailey scored his 100th career point in style, streaking down the ice on a short-handed breakaway, backhanding the puck high on Sergei Bobrovsky. Bailey’s milestone point held up to be the game-winner.
“It’s always nice to get one, on the PK especially,” Bailey said. “It seemed like it took a while to get [the 100th point], but it’s definitely nice to get a goal.”
Matt Moulson opened the scoring, taking a feed from John Tavares and burying it high on Bobrovsky. The second period goal extended both forwards’ point streaks. Moulson has 10 points (4g/6a) in his last six games, while Tavares’s career-high 11-game point streak ties Boston’s David Krejci for the longest this season.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Jack Capuano said of Tavares. “His will to compete, his will to want to help this team…I think it’s carrying over to some of our other guys right now.”
Captain Mark Streit scored his first goal since Nov. 17, a one-timer on a third-period power play. Michael Grabner scored his 14th into an empty net.
The win improves the Islanders record to 18-21-6 and propels them to 12th in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers drop to 27-14-4 and Bobrovsky loses his first career game to the Islanders.
The Isles return home to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
| Three star selections | |
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| 2nd: | |
| 3rd: | |
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Winning Goaltender |
Losing Goaltender |
| SKATERS: | GP | G | A | +/- | Pts |
| J. Tavares | 6 | 3 | 2 | -4 | 5 |
| M. Streit | 6 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 5 |
| K. Okposo | 6 | 3 | 1 | -1 | 4 |
| C. Cizikas | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| M. Grabner | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| C. McDonald | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| M. Moulson | 6 | 2 | 1 | -4 | 3 |
| B. Boyes | 6 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 3 |
| K. Aucoin | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| J. Bailey | 6 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| GOALIES: | W | L | OT | Sv% | GAA |
| K. Poulin | 0 | 0 | 0 | .933 | 1.15 |
| E. Nabokov | 2 | 4 | 2 | .842 | 4.44 |
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