By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Read posted his second consecutive two-goal effort and the Philadelphia Flyers took down the New York Islanders by a 5-2 count on Saturday.
Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux added a goal and assist each for the Flyers, who almost wasted a three-goal lead, but extended their season high of accumulating points to seven straight games (6-0-1) by sweeping a three-game residency.
Brayden Schenn posted a late tally to back 36 saves from Steve Mason.
John Tavares and Eric Boulton scored for the Islanders, who have dropped three in a row and eight of their last 10 outings.
Kevin Poulin was chased after Philly beat him three times in the first four minutes of the second period. Anders Nilsson finished up by stopping 12-of-13 shots.
New York got on the board with Tavares' backhander off a Thomas Vanek centering feed with 5:56 on the second-period clock, then climbed within a goal at 2:39 of the third period as Boulton tapped in a Casey Cizikas feed following the latter's left-circle faceoff win.
Scott Hartnell was denied an insurance goal just after the four-minute mark of the third period, when review determined his try from behind the net only reached the inside of the cage after it was lifted off its moorings.
Philly did get the crucial tally with 7:39 to play, as Nilsson steered a missed centering pass into the slot, where Schenn one-timed his gift into the upper-right corner for a 4-2 game.
The Islanders skated 6-on-5 once the clock ticked down to two minutes remaining, and Read deposited his second of the contest into the empty cage with 49 seconds left.
A scoreless first 20 minutes passed where each team unleashed 10 shots on goal.
The Flyers struck at the 46-second mark of the second period. Steve Downie kept the puck alive along the left-wing boards and Sean Couturier's blast from between the circles kicked out, where Read made no mistake on the rebound.
"I'd say a little bit of luck, being in the right spot at the right time," Read said of his recent goal success. "My line mates are doing all the work and I've just been benefiting from them. I give all the credit to those two. We'll just keep working together, and hopefully continue to have success."
Less than a minute later, Simmonds finished off a 3-on-2 by beating Poulin on the short side from the right circle.
It was 3-0 at 3:48, when Giroux ripped a shot from his usual spot in the left circle past a diving Isles netminder during a power play and Nilsson was called on to take the crease from Poulin.
"It really put us behind the 8-ball," Tavares said of falling behind 3-0. "And it's going to be tough to win any hockey game in this league when we have some meltdowns and some breakdowns like that after five minutes there, and it really hurt us."
Game Notes
Mason extended his streak of allowing no more than three goals in any start to 22 games since arriving in Philadelphia at March's trade deadline ... The Flyers won three straight home games in the same residency since doing so from Mar. 30-Apr. 3, 2013, and have taken four in a row in Philadelphia overall for the first time this season ... In addition, the Orange and Black improved to 32-4-2 over the Isles since the start of the 2007-08 season.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/flyers-continue-recent-success-by-topping-islanders