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PHILADELPHIA — The Islanders’ recent run of good form had to end at some point.
Sunday afternoon against the Flyers, in a game with Cal Clutterbuck and Andy Greene being held out of the lineup — seemingly to protect them from injury with the trade deadline looming on Monday — was as good a time as any for the results to yet again start aligning with the team’s gloomy outlook.
The Flyers dropped the Islanders 2-1, pulling the Isles record to 26-25-9 and preventing them from sweeping the season series, and snapping a seven-game points streak for the visiting team in the process.
The Islanders had been playing some of their best hockey — and gettng some of their best results — of the season. But Ilya Sorokin’s 35 saves couldn’t belie a performance in which the Flyers outshot their visitors 37-26 and kept out of the offensive zone for long stretches as the Islanders reverted back to old mistakes.
A pair of Kevin Hayes goals in the second period accentuated those mistakes. The first, at 4:22 of the period, came following a giveaway from Sebastian Aho deep in the Isles’ defensive zone, setting up an easy two-on-one for Hayes to convert on a feed from Travis Konecny.
The second, 10 minutes later, came on the power play following a Kieffer Bellows hook — the third of four penalties the Islanders committed in the game — when a loose puck bounced Hayes’ way.
Casey Cizikas started the scoring with a slap shot from the top of the zone at 12:50 of the first period that made its way past Carter Hart at 12:50 of the first period.
But after a solid first period, in which the Islanders passed the puck crisply on breakouts and generated chances, they started to look more like a team that was playing for the fifth time since last Sunday. Needing a goal in the third period, the Islanders failed to put the requisite pressure on Hart and came away empty-handed.
The focus now turns to the trade deadline. Clutterbuck and Greene aren’t expected to yield a massive haul if moved, but both could be of some use to playoff teams. If Lou Lamoriello decides to move more pieces — in particular, Semyon Varlamov or Josh Bailey, both of whom have multiple years left on their deals — the Islanders can expect a greater return.
The team’s performance against the Flyers, if nothing else, served as a hefty dose of reality.
This season will soon be thrown into the trash heap of history. How the Islanders approach the deadline, though, will dictate much of what they can get from it.
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