TORONTO — Scott Laughton scored on a redirect in overtime after Philadelphia blew a late two-goal lead, helping and the Flyers stave off elimination with a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
Coming off consecutive losses, Philadelphia Coach Alain Vigneault called on his top players to “put on their big boy pants” for Game 5 with the season on the line.
Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk responded with their sticks, scoring their first postseason goals after New York went up 1-0 on Josh Bailey’s first-period goal. Matt Niskanen added his first playoff goal early in the third period to put the Flyers up 3-1.
The scrappy Islanders made a big push late, though, tying it on goals by Brock Nelson and Derick Brassard 93 seconds apart.
Laughton redirected Ivan Provorov’s at 12:20 of overtime and Carter Hart stopped 29 shots to pull the Flyers within 3-2 in the best-of-seven second-round series.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots for New York.
Game 6 is Thursday in the Toronto bubble.
The Islanders put themselves in position to clinch the series with consecutive wins with different goalies in Games 3 and 4.
Varlamov returned to the crease after Thomas Greiss stopped 36 shots in Game 4 and was sharp early as the Flyers controlled play much of the first period.
The Islanders opened the second period on a power play after managing four shots in the first and immediately capitalized. Bailey scored on a wraparound through a pile of bodies in the crease, a goal upheld upon review for goaltender interference.
The Flyers withstood another New York push in the second and Giroux scored late, redirecting a shot by Phil Myers through Varlamov’s legs for his first goal in 26 playoff games.
Van Riemsdyk gave the Flyers their first lead since early in Game 3, one-timing a pass from Laughton past Varlamov’s glove side 2 1/2 minutes later.
Niskanen made it 3-1 following a New York turnover in the third period, beating Varlamov with a slap shot from the right circle.
The Islanders weren’t done fighting.
Nelson seemed to catch Hart off guard with a one-timer between the circles with 4:14 left in regulation and Brassard sent it to overtime with a goal off a nifty feed by Cal Clutterbuck.
NOTES
PENGUINS: Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby underwent arthroscopic wrist surgery on Monday but should be ready to go well before the start of training camp.
The team announced the procedure on Tuesday. It did not specify which wrist was injured. General Manager Jim Rutherford says the expected recovery time is about a month.
The 33-year-old Crosby had two goals and one assist during Pittsburgh’s brief postseason appearance as the Penguins fell to Montreal in four games in the qualifying round. The three-time Stanley Cup winner missed a portion of the three-week training camp in the run-up to the start of the 24-team tournament with an undisclosed issue.
Crosby becomes the latest Penguin to undergo offseason surgery. Two weeks ago, center Evgeni Malkin had elbow surgery that’s expected to sideline him a total of three to four weeks. The same day, Zach Aston-Reese underwent left shoulder surgery that the team estimates will keep him out six months, likely into the beginning of next season.
KINGS: Los Angeles signed forward Austin Wagner to a three-year, $3.4 million contract extension.
The 23-year-old Wagner has spent most of the past two seasons with the Kings, who drafted the physical wing in the fourth round in 2015. He had 12 goals and nine assists as a rookie in the 2018-19 season, and he added six goals and five assists this season while also leading Los Angeles with 145 hits.
Wagner was due to be a restricted free agent in the offseason.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
