Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Marc Staal (18) and right wing Cam Atkinson (89) vie for control of the puck against New York Islanders right wing Oliver Wahlstrom (26) and defenseman Noah Dobson (8) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
ELMONT, N.Y. — Second place in the Metropolitan Division was on the line, but tired legs ensured Saturday night’s clash between the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers looked like a meeting of two teams much lower in the standings. Tyson Foerster scored the only goal of a four-round shootout, potting a wrister over Ilya Sorokin, to lift the Flyers (11-9-1) to a 1-0 victory over the Islanders (8-6-6) at UBS Arena and finish an energy-sapping four-night stretch in which both teams played three games.
“I thought the effort was outstanding. I’m proud of our team,” Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said. “We’ve played a lot of hockey lately, traveled a lot lately including last night.”
Sorokin, who was tested far more than Flyers backup netminder Samuel Ersson, made 40 saves in regulation and overtime. Ersson turned away all 25 he faced, and both were credited with shutouts after a frenzied overtime period that saw the Islanders send five quality scoring chances wide of the net.
The result extends the Islanders’ point streak to six consecutive games but ends their win streak at three.
“You just have to score,” Lambert said of his team’s overtime struggles as the Islanders dropped to 0-5 in extra-time games. “We clearly had ample opportunities to end the game in overtime… we’ve had great scoring chances so we have to get over that hump and find a way.”
Both sides were clearly not fresh as they were on the second legs of back-to-backs. The Islanders defeated the Senators in Ottawa 5-3 on Friday night while the Flyers fell 3-1 to the Rangers in Philadelphia. It was also the third game in four nights for both…
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