NEW YORK (AP) — Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier scored 22 seconds apart early in the third period, Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves and the New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 for their fourth straight victory.
The teams will complete the home-and-home set in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Nelson made it 3-2 with his 11th goal of the season, beating Flyers goaltender Felix Sandstrom with a high shot from the left circle at 2:57.
Beauvillier made it a two-goal margin with his fifth at 3:19. Ryan Pulock assisted on both third-period goals and had four assists overall for New York. The Islanders are 13-2-2 in their last 17 games against the Flyers, including a 6-0-0 mark in their last six home meetings.
Zach Parise scored twice for the Islanders and Adam Pelech also scored to help New York improve to 8-3-0 at home.
The injury-depleted Flyers are 0-7-3 in their last 10 contests and haven’t won since Nov. 8.
Lukas Sedlak and Joel Farabee scored to put the Flyers ahead 2-1 before Parise tied it at 2 on the power play late in the second. Kevin Hayes had assists on both Philadelphia goals.
The Islanders lead the NHL with 35 third-period goals, outscoring opponents 35-19 in that period this season. New York has 42 goals in first periods, second periods and overtime combined.
The struggling Flyers were coming off a 4-1 home loss to Pittsburgh on Friday.
NOTES: The Islanders are 10-1-0 when scoring first and 6-1-0 in divisional games … The Islanders scratched injured forward Kyle Palmieri for the third straight game plus defenseman Robin Salo and forward Ross Johnston …. The Flyers scratched forwards Jackson Cates and Travis Konecny (upper-body). Philadelphia also continued to be without injured forwards Cam Atkinson, Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton.
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