Brock Nelson found the net just 1 minute and 25 seconds into overtime, securing a crucial 4-3 victory for the New York Islanders against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Anders Lee, Bo Horvat, and Matt Martin also scored goals for the Islanders, who are now just four points behind the Flyers for the last playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders have two more games left to play than the Flyers.
“We approached this game as if it was a must-win for us because we’re specifically chasing this team,” Nelson explained. “We really needed those points.” Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves to help the Islanders secure their third win in 11 games.
Nelson capitalized on a turnover by Morgan Frost in the Flyers’ zone to score his 30th goal of the season, tying him with Horvat for the team lead. Frost, Noah Cates, and Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers, who have now lost three consecutive games and eight of their last ten.
Frost’s goal in the final seconds of regulation forced overtime, earning the Flyers a crucial point as they cling to the final playoff spot. Islanders coach Patrick Roy commented, “No one was pleased when that goal went in because we knew exactly what it meant.
But we stayed focused and scored a big one… We might not be happy to give them one point today, but we might be happy down the road to have two points.”
Sam Ersson started in goal for the Flyers but was replaced by Ivan Fedotov after allowing two goals on six shots in the first period. Fedotov, who made his NHL debut after joining the Flyers last week, made 15 of his 24 saves in the second period.
Flyers coach John Tortorella expressed his frustration, saying, “There are certain people that don’t have a clue how to play or don’t have it in them to play in these types of situations.
This is why I’m glad we’re playing them. We have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here. That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform. Embarrassing.”
