
The Flyers got mad.
And then they got even.
Upset by what they perceived to be a cheap shot hit on Ryan Poehling in the first period, the Flyers turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in the second and went on to a 5-3 win on Thursday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.
With the win, the Flyers extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1) and evened their record at 20-20-6.
Goals by Sean Couturier, Garnet Hathaway and Morgan Frost in the middle frame put the Flyers in charge.
Samuel Ersson was at his best as the Flyers’ goaltender recorded the win.
New York’s Matthew Barzal scored just 30 seconds into the third period. Later, Cam York connected for the Flyers’ fourth goal at 5:16 to give his team some breathing room. The Isles scored on a power play with 2:44 to play but Noah Cates retaliated as the clock hit 1:12 to go on an empty-net goal.
The first period had only one goal but plenty of controversy.
The biggest point of contention came in the eighth minute of play when New York’s Maxim Tsyplokov zeroed in on Poehling as he was about to launch a shot from the lower left circle.
Tsyplokov took several strides, then blindsided the upsuspecting Philadelphia center. Poehling immediately collapsed to the ice and remained there motionless for several minutes.
Officials initially charged Tsyplakov with a five-minute major penalty. Then, after a review, they rescinded the call, which enraged the Flyers bench, including coach John Tortorella.
Although the play appeared to be a shoulder-to-shoulder collision, Poehling did not play the remainder of the game.
For much of the rest of the period, the Flyers went after Tsyplakov, including Joel Farabee, just back from a three-game benching.
However, the Flyers were able to cool down during the first intermission and that was important.
“It was regroup,” Garnet Hathaway said. “It’s an emotional game. So you got to keep those in check. I could talk about what ‘Poehls’ means to the room. The game keeps going, you have to come together, sit down, take a second breath and talk about how you’re going to execute. And make plays, that’s what I think we did.”
Other Flyers agreed.
“It’s tough as we tried to handle it early,” Travis Konecny said. “Obviously didn’t answer the bell so it prolonged. We used it as fuel – we just kept on playing, playing hard.”
Farabee saw the merit in not extending the retribution thing too far.
“When ‘Poehls’ went down, I think it just gave us a little more uptick in our game,” he said. “We went after them and I think the scoreboard shows that. I really wanted to go at that guy. The way we handled it and came back in the second, I thought it was really good.”
Coach John Tortorella liked the way his team pulled together after the incident.
“I didn’t re-focus anybody,” he said when asked if he had to address the team at the first intermission. “I told them to take care of ‘Poehls.’ I thought the whole situation gave you a chance to galvanize one another. They were concerned about Poehls. That’s the way the group is. When those types of situations arise, that’s when they pull together. It’s a good unit.”
Moments later, New York scored on another controversial play. This time, with New York on the power play, Konecny attempted to clear the puck but appeared to be slashed. Again, no call. The Islanders retained possession, with Anders Lee stopping the puck and Bo Horvat eventually scoring at 9:21.
That ended a 14-game power-play drought for the Islanders.
Later, Konecny crashed into the end boards during a chase for a loose puck. He had to leave the ice, then later returned to play although he continued to flex his shoulder. No penalty was called on the play.
In the second period, Couturier scored at 5:15 off a feed from Farabee. Couturier re-directed a puck past goaltender Ilya Sorokin. It was Couturier’s 199th NHL career goal.
Then the Flyers went ahead at 9:29 with a shorthanded goal. Hathaway and Konecny broke in two-on-one with Konecny feeding his linemate on the left flank for a shot beyond the reach of Sorokin.
The Flyers’ third goal came when Owen Tippett set up Morgan Frost at 13:41 off a give-and go. It was Frost’s fourth goal in the last five games.
In a pre-game interview, Frost talked about what inspiration he can draw from the Noah Cates line (with Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster), which has been so successful of late.
“Just watching the video, you can how they play so close together,” Frost said. “And the things they’re doing out there. It’s easy – or should I say hard – to emulate that. They’ve been playing really well, just try to do some of the stuff they’ve been doing.”
As for playing with Konecny and Tippett, it’s easy to produce on offense.
“Yeah, high speed, high skill,” Frost said. “I try to get them the puck as much as I can. If we get in this game, we have to play smart and hold onto the lead.”
>Short shots
The Flyers return to action with the final game of their three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when they face the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J. . .Hathaway has three goals in his last four games. Frost has six points in his last five games. . .Farabee’s two assists made for his first two-point game of the season. . .The Flyers won their second straight at UBS after losing their first five at the new building. . .Konecny had three assists after getting four against Anaheim last Saturday.