In Elmont, the New York Islanders trailed the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, in the second period.
Zach Parise scored the first of four straight goals by the Isles in the middle frame to tie it, 2-2, then added his second of the game, just past the midway point of the third period, off the power play to give the Isles a 5-2 win.
“We’re playing good hockey right now,” Parise said.
“[Philadelphia] doesn’t make it easy, they work really hard, so it’s not always easy to generate, but again, we were able to keep pressing and take over toward the end of the second and into the third.”
Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves in the Islanders win.
New York improved to 15-8-0.
For the Flyers, it was their 10th straight loss, 0-7-3..
“We’re going to keep banging away at it,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I saw a lot of good things tonight. I’m not going to criticize the hockey team.”
Philadelphia dropped too 7-10-5.
The Isles took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a strike by Adam Pelech .
“Be more aggressive and chipping in offensively when we can,” Pelech said. “Defending first, that will always be our calling card.”
The Flyers got even, 1-1, on a marker from Lukas Sedlak in the fist.
Joel Farabee scored near the midpoint of the second period to give the Flyers their 2-+1 lead.
“We had good puck possession and were rewarded with two goals,” Philadelphia’s Kevin Hayes said. “That was not enough.”
With the score tied, 2-2, in the third, Brock Nelson hit for a goal to put the Islanders up, 3-2.
“The theme has to be shoot, shoot,” Parise said. “And we know as a penalty kill once they start shooting and you start running around a little bit you get out of your structure. I think when we’re shooting the puck and hunting down the second chances and second waves, that’s when we’re scoring.”
Anthony Beauvillier made it 4-2 at 3:19 of the period.
“Brock just [made] a great shot,” Beauviller said. “Second one, [Pulock made] a great play in the slot to me, and it was definitely a game-changer.”
Parise’s power play goal made it the 5-2 final.
“He’s on the power 
play, he kills penalties, plays against other teams’ top lines,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said of Parise. “He’s very versatile. There’s no question about it. I give him full marks. I thought he was one of the catalysts tonight to get us going.”
Felix Sandstrom made 18 saves in the loss.
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