The New York Islanders beat the slumping Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, on a Saturday night in Elmont, in what started sluggish but turned into a feisty, physical match that sets up a tasty rematch in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
For the Isles, it was their fourth consecutive win, while the Flyers have now gone winless in 10 straight. The frustration of that losing streak showed on the visitors, as they played a focused and disciplined game while the score was close, then lost their cool once the Isles broke it open in the third.
Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves, some of them very good, and was key to keeping things close in the first two periods when the Isles weren’t at their best.