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Flyers-Islanders observations: Are Isles the team to play in the first round?

Among the improvements the Flyers have made under Scott Gordon, gaining a lead and defending it have been paramount.

Ivan Provorov (9) and Claude Giroux celebrate with Sean Couturier (14), who scored the Flyers' fourth goal against the Islanders.
Ivan Provorov (9) and Claude Giroux celebrate with Sean Couturier (14), who scored the Flyers' fourth goal against the Islanders.Read moreKathy Willens / AP

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Flyers defeated the New York Islanders, 4-1, Sunday at the Nassau Coliseum.

Here are some takeaways.

Who gets the Isles?

Lost somewhat in the Flyers’ surge is that the surprising (can you say overachieving?) Islanders have come back to the pack — or at least back to Washington, which they now trail in second place. As unlikely as a playoff spot remains for the Flyers, it bears noting that there is a hair difference between the seventh and eighth spots of the playoffs. But the difference between playing the resurgent Stanley Cup champions and an Islanders team as green as the Flyers in playoff experience could be huge.

Konecny fights

After the trade deadline, Travis Konecny spoke of carrying on the toughness Wayne Simmonds had preached to the team — which included sticking up for each other, and for yourself.

So there he was, all 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds of him, challenging Jordan Eberle after the Islanders forward landed what appeared to be an unintentionally high hit to Konecny’s head behind the Islanders net in the third period. Eberle is listed at 5-11 and 187 pounds, but given that Konecny said after the fight that ``I can’t really reach the head; I got the body,’, maybe the height difference between the two was more than an inch.

In any case, Eberle obliged, the two mixed it up with the Islander getting the better, and hockey’s code was employed. ``He hit me high,’’ Konecny said. ``We talked in the box. It wasn’t anything crazy. I just felt like I had to stick up for myself there.’’

Gordon and defending the lead

Among the improvements the Flyers have made under interim coach Scott Gordon, gaining a lead and defending it have been paramount.

The Flyers were not very good at either under their former coach. So what changed about the starts?

Here’s Gordon to the Islanders media before Sunday’s 4-1 victory: ``There hasn’t been one thing. It’s been a lot of little things. Whether it’s special teams, our play in the neutral zone, special teams — it’s been everything. I can’t say that we’ve done one thing that much better. But the consistency of how we do everything has become much better.

Here’s Islanders coach Barry Trotz afterward: ``We were chasing it all game. They did a real good job after getting up of making it difficult. They clogged it up pretty good in the neutral zone with their 1-3-1. … I’m not going to take anything away from them. They did a really good job tonight.’’

Said Konecny: ``We just rolled and knew that everyone was going to go out and do their job. We couldn’t afford to turn over pucks or take long shifts. We just played a simple game. I hate being cliché, but that’s exactly what we had to do.

Nolan Patrick and bad luck

He has yet to turn 21, and already Nolan Patrick has undergone two core muscle surgeries, had a few lower- and upper-body injuries, and been concussed a few times, too. Sunday, Patrick fell in front of a Cal Clutterbuck slapshot, the puck striking the side of his helmet and cutting the top of his ear and head, requiring stitches and forcing him from the game.

Gordon said he did not know if Patrick had undergone the league’s concussion protocol, so his status for Wednesday’s home game against Washington remains uncertain.

He did say that Patrick was alert and in good spirits between periods. And given how much worse it could have been had the puck struck his face or neck, maybe this should be seen as good luck, not bad.

Gordon and the ice

Maybe it was the warmer temperature outside or the impending storm, or even the odd time (3 p.m.) of the game. Whatever the reason, the Nassau Coliseum ice was unusually chippy, which led to some odd-looking falls and bounces. Certainly, Patrick did not intend to use his helmet to block Clutterbuck’s shot.

``Maybe it was me," Gordon said, "but there seemed instances where pucks were dumped out and they looked like they were going for icings and they just kind of came to a halt at the top of the circle or hash mark. I just thought that was odd. ‘’