They nearly did it. Down 3-1 with six minutes to go in the third period, Brock Nelson and Derick Brassard tallied goals for the Islanders to send the game to overtime. However, Scott Laughton tipped in an Ivan Provorov shot from the point in the extra frame, giving the Flyers a 4-3 Game 5 win over the Islanders on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
For the second time this series, New York rallied back from a multi-goal deficit, only to lose the contest. This time it comes in an elimination game and now the Islanders will need to take the ice once again Thursday night for Game 6.
“You look at every experience and hope that you realize what you need to do,” said Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. “I think we do.”
A sixth game was nearly not necessary when the Islanders scored two late goals. After Matt Niskanen scored late in the third, the Islanders pinned the Flyers in their defensive zone and went to work. Their two late goals came 93 seconds apart.
“We just started to get chances, we were getting pucks in and we started to play the way that we know we can play,” Bailey said. “That’s the character of our team, there’s no quit in us. We want to continue, even when you’re down 3-1 with eight or nine minutes left, there’s still an opportunity to win the game. Obviously the result wasn’t what we wanted but we’ll be ready to go next time.”
New York was lucky it even got to that point. They were outshot 11-4 in the first period, but went up 1-0 in the second period after Bailey bounced the puck off Mathew Barzal for a power-play goal. The end of the frame featured multiple defensive breakdowns and the Flyers capitalized, getting late goals from Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, their first tallies of the postseason.
“I think I used the term that they need to wear their big-boy pants,” said Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault. “And without a doubt, they came to play. The whole group came to play. That team on the other side is an experienced team, a real sound fundamental hockey team and you have to earn every inch out there. They have heard ‘big-boy pants’ before. It’s something they are aware of. They don’t need me to motivate them.”
Although the Islanders tied the game after trailing and sent it to overtime, they had many opportunities to do even better. Brock Nelson had a glorious opportunity in the extra frame, but he was unable to elevate the puck and Carter Hart made one of his 29 saves.
“We’re on the side of a loss, so I’m going to say we needed a little bit more,” Trotz said. “We got it tied up, we had some early chances in the overtime, and if we score on them we’re not having this conversation. You want to close it out and we were unable to do that, and that’s on us. We’re disappointed.”
Now facing a nearly must-win Game 6, all pressure is on the Islanders. The teams will have to wait until Thursday at 7 p.m. EST to take the ice in Toronto once again.
