TORONTO — Phillippe Myers scored 2:40 into overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday, tying the second-round playoff series at a game apiece.
The Islanders overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau getting the tying goal with 2:09 left in regulation.
Myers ended it quickly, connecting on a shot from the right point that glanced off the stick of the Islanders’ Anders Lee on the way in.
Kevin Hayes scored twice in the first period for Philadelphia, Sean Couturier also had a goal, and Carter Hart made 31 saves.
Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov had seven saves before he was benched late in the first period. Thomas Greiss finished with 20 stops the rest of the way.
The Flyers scored three times in the first 15:09, chasing Varlamov. He had shut them out in Game 1 and built an Islanders’ playoff record shutout streak of 138:17 before Philadelphia broke through in the first period.
Game 3 is Thursday night.
The Flyers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, sorely needed more production from their top goal-scorers and finally got it.
Hayes scored off a rush with a wrister from the left circle that rattled in off the post 1:57 into the game. Hayes got his second when he beat Varlamov with a sharp-angle shot from the left at 9:43.
Couturier followed later in the period with a slick one, picking up the puck in the neutral zone, slipping around defenseman Nick Leddy and deking Varlamov. That’s when Greiss was sent in to make his playoff debut in relief of Varlamov.
The momentum started to even out in the second period. With the Islanders on a power play, Lee tipped in a beautiful cross-ice feed from Mathew Barzal to get New York on the board.
Beauvillier made it a one-goal game on a rush 11:11 into the third period. Pageau lifted a wrist shot over Hart’s glove to tie the game with 2:09 left, despite a Flyers’ claim that New York was offside entering the zone.
NOTES
COYOTES: The NHL stripped the Arizona Coyotes of their 2020 second-round pick and 2021 first-round pick for violating the scouting combine policy by conducting physical tests of draft-eligible players.
Commissioner Gary Bettman determined the organization broke the rules by physically testing prospects outside of the combine, which is prohibited “to ensure competitive fairness among clubs with respect to evaluating and drafting prospects and to avoid subjecting prospects to repeated and duplicative testing procedures.”
Bettman decided to use his powers to take away draft picks rather than impose a fine of $250,000 or more “given the specific circumstances of this case.” The NHL Constitution gives him the ability to deprive a team of draft picks if conduct is found to affect the competitive aspects of the game.
The league opted not to discipline any individual members of the organization involved in the situation because Bettman believes it was gross negligence rather than intentional wrongdoing.
BLUES: Winger Vladimir Tarasenko is in jeopardy of missing the start of next season because he is facing shoulder surgery for the third time in less than three years.
General Manager Doug Armstrong said the 28-year-old Russian is scheduled to have another operation on his left shoulder and won’t be re-evaluated until five months after surgery.
CANADIENS: Coach Claude Julien says he is feeling “100%” after a heart procedure.
Julien had a stent installed in a coronary artery Aug. 13 at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto after complaining of chest pains. The procedure came a day after Montreal opened its first-round playoff series with Philadelphia.
“To be honest with you it really felt like it was heartburn, so after a while when it didn’t want to go away, I just reached out to Graham (Rynbend), our medical trainer, and just told him about it,” Julien said Wednesday on a teleconference with reporters.
“After talking with him we decided it was safer to head over to the hospital and get checked out a little closer. In doing that, they found one of my arteries was partially blocked, and that they needed to put in a stent. That got done right away, and I couldn’t have asked for better care at St. Michael’s Hospital. They were awesome.”
Julien said he didn’t suffer a heart attack and was ready to return to work had the Canadians beaten the Flyers and advanced to the second round. Montreal pushed favored Philadelphia to six games before its run in Toronto came to an end.
“Came back to Montreal just to rest, and had we won Game 6 Friday night, I was on my way back to Toronto for that day quarantine and would have been definitely ready for the next round,” Julien said.
Associate coach Kirk Muller took over behind the bench in Julien’s absence.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
