Islanders win another under Weight
PHILADELPHIA -- John Tavares, Jason Chimera and Casey Cizikas scored goals and goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 33 of 34 shots to lead the New York Islanders to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night and climb back into the fight for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
The win was the Islanders' second in a row and improved their record to 7-1-2 since interim head coach Doug Weight took over for Jack Capuano on Jan. 17.
The Flyers, meanwhile, have lost three in a row and four of their last five. Their lead over the Islanders is now just one point, with the Isles holding three games in hand.
Wayne Simmonds scored the only goal for the Flyers, who have been outscored 30-3 in their last six losses.
Greiss, who signed a three-year contract extension last month, has gone 7-1-1 in his last nine decisions and is now 17-8-3. Flyers goaltender Steve Mason (30 saves) fell to 16-17-6 and has lost 10 of his last 12 decisions.
The Islanders fell behind 12:07 into the game on a goal by Simmonds but tied it with 3:20 remaining in the first period on a power-play goal by Tavares.
The Islanders captain received a nice pass from Ryan Strome and slung a shot from the right circle that found its way under Mason's right armpit for his team-high 21st goal of the season.
The Isles took a 2-1 lead 2:13 into the second period when three players signed as free agents during the summer connected at even strength. Andrew Ladd, 31, took a pass from 35-year-old defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and found the 37-year-old Chimera streaking down the right side.
Before Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas could recover, Chimera backhanded his 12th goal of the season past Mason and the Islanders had two goals on just eight shots.
The Islanders kept the Flyers on their heels when a strong individual effort by Cizikas resulted in a 3-1 lead just 1:21 into the third period.
Cizikas had his intitial shot blocked by Flyers defenseman Mark Streit but recovered the puck and beat Mason inside the left post for his sixth goal of the season and second in three games.
The Flyers got on the board first when Simmonds scored their first goal in seven days. With Islanders left winger Shane Prince in the box for tripping Nick Cousins, Simmonds parked himself in front of Greiss and jammed a Shayne Gostisbehere rebound over the goal line for his team-high 22nd goal of the season.
It was the Flyers' first goal in 134 minutes, 56 seconds and it was set up by Gostisbehere, who was playing his first game after being a healthy scratch for three consecutive games.
In those three games without Gostisbehere, the Flyers' power play went 1 of 9.
NOTES: D Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the Flyers' lineup after sitting out the previous three games as a healthy scratch. He replaced Nick Schultz and was paired with Mark Streit. RW Matt Read returned to the lineup in place of rookie F Travis Konecny, who is out 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury. ... Islanders D Nicky Leddy entered the game one point shy of 200 for his NHL career. ... The Islanders will be in Ottawa on Saturday to face the Senators, then return home to face the Avalanche on Sunday. ... The Flyers conclude their five-game homestand on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. They'll then hit the road for games in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.