Elliott backstops Flyers to win over Islanders
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots and the Philadelphia Flyers beat New York 4-1 Sunday, helping knock the Islanders out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier each scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers are 4-0-1 in their last five games to move within five points of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Elliott lost his shutout bid when Adam Pelech scored with 4:45 left. He got his ninth win of the season and third in his last four starts.
Robin Lehner made 10 saves in 23:18 of work before Islanders coach Barry Trotz pulled him the the second period. Thomas Greiss made 12 saves in relief.
New York began the day tied with Washington atop the Metropolitan with 81 points. The Capitals beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout at Madison Square Garden earlier Sunday to surge ahead.
The Flyers jumped to 1-0 lead 8:21 into the game. Konecny was able to drive by Islanders defender Scott Mayfield and put the puck past Lehner for his 21st of the season. Radko Gudas picked up his 100th career NHL point with an assist on the play,
Philadelphia extended the lead to two goals when Sanheim was able to put a loose puck past Lehner with 5:01 left in the first. Sanheim's initial shot was stopped by the goalie, but the rebound sat in the slot and he was able to gain control of the puck and score.
Laughton gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead 3:18 in the second when he scored off his own rebound. Couturier's 27th goal of the year made it 4-0 with 4:46 left in the middle period.
Philadelphia's Nolan Patrick left the game early in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Patrick took a shot by Cal Clutterbuck off his head and left the ice with the help of team trainer.
Clutterbuck suffered an upper-body injury of his own later in the game and missed the third period.
NOTES: Flyers F Jakub Voracek missed the game with a lower-body injury. Voracek had nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last four games. ... Islanders F Matt Martin missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Martin is listed as day-to-day. ... Flyers coach Scott Gordon faced the Islanders as an NHL head coach for the first time since New York fired him on Nov. 15, 2010. Gordon coached the Islanders for two-plus seasons and had a 64-94-23 record during that time. ... The Islanders scratched F Tom Kuhnhackl, D Thomas Hickey, D Luca Sbisa and D Dennis Seidenberg. . The Flyers scratched D Samuel Morin.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Flyers: Host Washington on Wednesday night.
---
More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP-Sports