Flyers 6, Islanders 4
Rookie Michael Raffl scored to snap a tie with 4:15 remaining in the third period as Philadelphia continued its dominance of visiting New York by winning the opener of a home-and-home series.
Defenseman Andrej Meszaros scored twice in the first period and Jakub Voracek, Adam Hall and Matt Read also tallied for the Flyers, who defeated the Islanders for the third time this season and improved to 33-4-2 in the last 39 meetings. Ray Emery finished with five saves in relief of Steve Mason, who yielded four goals on 24 shots after signing a three-year, $12.3 million contract extension earlier in the day.
Defenseman Brian Strait and Brock Nelson each collected a goal and an assist, captain John Tavares netted his team-leading 22nd tally and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for New York. Kevin Poulin finished with 26 saves as New York dropped to 3-11-3 against the Metropolitan Division representatives.
Philadelphia recorded the first eight shots of the third period, capped by Voracek converting a nifty pass from captain Claude Giroux to forge a 4-4 tie at 7:14. Giroux set up Raffl on the eventual winner as he backhanded a feed to the rookie, who wired a shot from deep in the left circle past Poulin.
Hall won an offensive-zone faceoff before tipping defenseman Mark Streit's point shot past Poulin to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead at 3:45 of the second period. Nelson knotted it up by deflecting defenseman Calvin de Haan's shot over seven minutes later before Strait blasted a shot from the top of the left circle off the post and in to chase Mason.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Meszaros' soft wrist shot handcuffed Poulin to put Philadelphia on the scoreboard with 5:17 remaining in the first period. The defenseman tied it up with 1:22 left in the session for his third multi-goal performance of his career - all against the Islanders (Nov. 28, 2007, April 9, 2011). ... Clutterbuck's short-handed goal was his third of the season, tying him with Montreal C Tomas Plekanec and Boston LW Brad Marchand for the NHL lead. ... Philadelphia, which held a 14-2 edge in shots during the third period, skated to 5-2 victories over New York on Oct. 26 and Nov. 23.