Flyers escape Long Island with win
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Andreas Nodl killed three birds with one puck.
In one fell swoop, with 8:26 left in the third period, Nodl not only grabbed the momentum back from the Islanders with his goal that re-knotted the score at two but also ticked his scoring streak to two games - and most importantly - cured the Flyers' power play woes.
Danny Briere beat Dwayne Roloson less than 3 minutes later, allowing them to escape embarrassment with a 3-2 win against the NHL's worst team at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, in front of an announced crowd of 7,773 distributed tickets, the Flyers regained 1st overall in the NHL standings. The Flyers are now 8-1-1 against Atlantic division opponents, the best points percentage among NHL teams against division foes.
Before Nodl's goal, someone apparently forgot to alert the Flyers that three periods are needed to pick up 2 points in the standings.
The Flyers entered the third period with a scant 1-0 lead, thanks to Matt Carle's first period goal, but the Islanders - who have lost 17 of their last 18 games - didn't seem to pose much of a threat.
Whoops. Sergei Bobrvosky's first NHL shutout will have to wait at least another three days.
New York scored twice in a span of 36 seconds with P.A. Parenteau's point blast and Frans Nielsen's shot that trickled through Bobrovsky's pads.
An irate Peter Laviolette signaled for a timeout and tore apart his team with an expletive-laden tirade after Parenteau cashed in on a Flyers defensive breakdown. If he was angry then, steam was visible exiting his ears after Nielsen's weak goal less than a minute later.
On Saturday afternoon, Laviolette told the assembled media to "wait until tomorrow" for the Flyers' to right their power play woes. They entered the game having scored twice in their last 41 opportunities.
Nodl chipped a shot past Roloson with 3 seconds left in the Flyers' 4th power play of the afternoon to make that 3-for-45.
For the first time in 7 games - and just the second time in their last 12 games - the Flyers were outshot by their opponent, with the Islanders winning the shots battle 30-27. Most importantly, the Flyers left Long Island with the only important stat: two points.
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