Flyers down Isles, 2-1

PHILADELPHIA – Kevin Hayes hit for a double in the middle frame on Sunday, and the Flyers won their first game without Claude Giroux on the roster.

“There’s a bit of an opportunity here for guys to step into, I don’t want to say a new era, that sounds a little bit corny here, but that’s kind of what it is,” Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. “We’re going to need some of these guys to take another step in their career, and they’re certainly ready for that, for sure. I don’t mean that as a slight to what they’ve done in the past.

“It’s just we’re asking more of them now. They’re not the followers anymore. Now, they’re the leaders.”

Hayes’ two goals overcame an early 1-0 lead by the New York Islanders, and secured a 2-1 win for Philadelphia.

The Flyers moved to 20-31-11.

Carter Hart made 26 saves in the Flyers win.

“I think just with [Giroux] leaving, I think there’s a lot of opportunity out there for other guys,” the Flyers’ Joel Farabee said. “Obviously, we’re not where we want to be in this season, but we’ve got something to prove, I think, to ourselves and to our teammates for next year and games to follow. I think just with the absence of ‘G,’ I think some other guys have to step up. It’s kind of a little bit of a new era almost, in a sense, I feel.”

Casey Cizikas scored the Isles only goal in the game.

“Can’t afford that [loss] anytime, but we understand where the schedule is. We just have to mentally get through that,” New York coach Barry Trotz said. “I thought, for the most part, we did. … We could be sitting here being in overtime or whatever. We didn’t have enough juice.”

The Islanders dropped to 26-25-9.

“I was just focusing on getting it past that first guy,” Cizikas said. “It’s not a comfortable spot being there for a forward. You don’t want to get that blocked. I just focused on getting it through that first guy. If you do that, anything can happen.”

Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves in the New York loss.

“It was kind of an ugly game a little bit,” the Islanders’ Anders Lee said. “It was a little bouncy, a little choppy. There wasn’t a ton of flow. We were just trying to get our legs and try to get it and gun it at times. It wasn’t one of those games where it was coming easy.”