Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* Chris VandeVelde recorded his fifth goal in the last seven games. He has seven goals in 15 games since January 2.
* Nick Schultz scored for the second time in three games. He previously had gone 125 games without a goal.
* The Flyers had 18 shots on goal and 32 that did not reach the net – 20 that were blocked and 12 that missed.
* For the third time in the last four games, the Flyers committed just one minor penalty. Tonight they also had one major.
* The Flyers wrapped up their five-game homestand with nine of a possible 10 points. They now embark on a four-game road trip that begins Feb. 8 at Washington and runs through Feb. 15. Their next home game is Feb. 17 vs. Columbus.
GAME RECAP
PHILADELPHIA — Cal Clutterbuck scored in regulation and had the game-winning goal in the shootout to help the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
Mikhail Grabovski also had a goal for the Islanders (33-17-1). Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 16 saves; he stopped six of seven shootout attempts.
The win ended New York’s three-game losing streak.
Nick Schultz and Chris VandeVelde scored for the Flyers (22-22-8), and Vincent Lecavalier had two assists. GoaltenderSteve Mason made 28 saves; he stopped five shootout attempts.
The loss ended Philadelphia’s four-game winning streak.
The Islanders trailed 2-0 midway through the second period, but tied the game with two goals in the final 3:12 of the second.
Grabovski got the Islanders on the board with his eighth goal. The Flyers got loose with the puck in their end and the Islanders took advantage. Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn got the puck in front of the goal and tried to backhand the puck into the corner, but Grabovski intercepted it and beat Mason at 16:48 of the period.
With 1:13 remaining in the second, Mason got his blocker on Brock Nelson’s shot off the rush from the left side, but the puck went right to Clutterbuck, who scored his fifth goal and first in 19 games to tie the game 2-2.
The Flyers took a 2-0 lead on VandeVelde’s goal at 11:38 of the second period. Lecavalier won a battle along the boards and sent the puck to VandeVelde, who started a 2-on-1 rush with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. VandeVelde held the puck on the right side and beat Halak to the short side, past his glove.
It was VandeVelde’s eighth goal and sixth in 10 games.
Philadelphia had six shots in the first period but scored the only goal of the opening 20 minutes.
Josh Bailey and Travis Hamonic collided at the New York blue line and Lecavalier jumped on the loose puck. Lecavalier got low in the zone and tried putting a shot on net, but his attempt hit Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk and went off the side of the net. Lecavalier retrieved the loose puck behind the net and found Schultz pinching in. His one-timer from the slot went past Halak for his second goal.
Schultz has two goals in three games after going 125 games between goals before scoring Jan. 29 against the Winnipeg Jets.