Flyers 4*, Islanders 3 (*SO): Elimination complete

2 weeks ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey  /  Read Time: 1 minute 58 seconds

The walking dead. | Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images


And down they go. The New York Islanders’ never-believable playoff push was officially put to rest with a shootout loss in Philadelphia, with the Isles delivering the kind of “played well in parts but not well enough” performance that typified so much of the 2024-25 season.
To give things a final bit of manufactured tension, they did equalize late with a sixth attacker and force overtime, as anything short of two points would self-eliminate them.
And indeed, that’s what happened. Team scoring leaders Anders Lee and Bo Horvat each inched closer to 30 goals, and they may have lost Pierre Engvall to injury, but everything is pretty much academic at this point. They have three games to go till the end of the season, which can’t come soon enough.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
It was an uneven game, with the Isles outplaying Philadelphia in the first and even moreso in the second, which is when the first three goals happened. The Flyers got on the board first with a power play goal (one of their four shots in the period), but Anders Lee answered back on the power play for his 29th of the season.


Anders Lee is one goal shy of 30 on the year. #Isles pic.twitter.com/pCWtOeIVt2— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 12, 2025




Noah Dobson got his 10th — the fourth time he’s reached that mark — with a couple of minutes to go, sending the Isles to the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.


WHAT A PASS BY BO HORVAT.#LGI | @Ford pic.twitter.com/PQU379VSgz— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 12, 2025




Some sloppy play throughout the third let the Flyers turn the game around for a 3-2 lead. While it was generally a bounce-back game for Marcus Hogberg after the slaughter by the Rangers, I didn’t like how he played the (admittedly golden) scoring chances he faced as the Flyers equalized and retook the lead. He’s got a big body, he needs to come out and close down space.
Adding injury to insult, Pierre Engvall left the game injured after spinning inside the Fleyrs blueline and buckling his knee. It looked bad, and he needed to be helped off the ice, but he apparently returned to the bench during the shootout.


That looked absolutely brutal for Pierre Engvall. Man. #Isles pic.twitter.com/ZuCzUWl4XC— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 12, 2025




With Hogberg pulled for a sixth attacker, the Islanders nearly fumbled it away several times. Finally, on their first stretch of possession in the Flyers zone, Bo Horvat did what I was shouting at him to do and sent a puck along the ice through traffic, which hit a stick and found its way past Samuel Ersson.
According to MSG, it was their sixth goal with an extra attacker this season, which surprised me to learn.
Overtime was a bore, and of course the shootout was too. No one converted until the fifth round when Bobby Brink finally put one past Hogberg with a series of nifty moves. Simon Holmstrom nearly beat Ersson with some nice moves, and Tony DeAngelo was put out there for a chance (and many boos) in his hometown against one of his former teams, but othing doing.
Up Next
The Isles play again on Sunday afternoon in Newark....

Read Full Article.