Instant Replay: Flyers 5, Islanders 2

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NEW YORK — Call it the “scratch game.”

Sunday night’s regular-season finale between the Flyers and New York Islanders at the Barclays Center featured a contest neither team cared much for, evident by the combined 18 healthy scratches.
 
The Flyers won the game, 5-2, to finish 41-27-14, an improvement of eight wins and 12 points from last season.
 
On Saturday, Dave Hakstol’s club clinched the Eastern Conference’s second wild card and No. 8 playoff seed, rendering Game 82 essentially meaningless for the orange and black.
 
With 12 scratches, the Islanders (45-27-10) lost and secured the East’s top wild card, avoiding the NHL’s hottest team in the Penguins for the first round of the postseason. Instead, they’ll face the Panthers, who won the Atlantic Division.
 
Thanks to the Islanders’ throwing in the towel, the Rangers finished in third place of the Metropolitan Division and draw Pittsburgh in the opening round.
 
The Flyers-Islanders game was a makeup from the Jan. 23 postponement forced by Winter Storm Jonas.
 
Michael Raffl recorded a three-point game (one goal, two assists), while Brayden Schenn (two assists), Scott Laughton (one goal, one assist) and Evgeny Medvedev (one goal, one assist) all registered two points apiece.
 
The Flyers went 3-1-1 against the Islanders in five regular-season meetings.
 
Notable goals
The Flyers overcame a 2-0 deficit on goals by Shayne Gostisbehere, Medvedev and Raffl.
 
Laughton and R.J. Umberger added insurance with third-period goals.
 
Gostisbehere got it all started for the Flyers, lacing home a wrist shot for a power-play marker at 11:15 of the first.
 
Gostisbehere finished the regular season leading all rookie defensemen in goals (17), assists (29) and points (46).
 
Playing in just his second game since March 5, Medvedev tallied a power-play marker on a deflection with eight seconds left in the first.
 
Raffl then scored the game-winner 6:38 into the second with a snap shot off a nice find from Laughton.
 
Goalie report
Michal Neuvirth started in net for his first game action since March 16, as he was out until April 7 recovering from a lower-body injury.
 
Neuvirth was hardly tested by the Islanders. He allowed a pair of goals in the game’s opening 9:19 and needed to make just 15 saves for the win.
 
Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss played just the first period and surrendered two goals. Christopher Gibson played the final two stanzas and stopped 15 shots.
 
Power play
The Flyers went 3 for 4; the Islanders 0 for 4.
 
Penalty kill
The Flyers killed off all four Islanders power plays, while New York went 1 for 4 on the PK.
 
Scratches
Forwards Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier, defenseman Mark Streit and goalies Steve Mason and Alex Lyon all sat as healthy scratches.
 
As a result, forwards Jordan Weal, Umberger and Laughton and defenseman Medvedev were inserted into the lineup, while goalie Ray Emery dressed and backed up Neuvirth.
 
For the Islanders, they scratched: Forwards John Tavares, Mikhail Grabovski, Anders Lee, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Casey Cizikas, defensemen Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Brian Strait and Johnny Boychuk, and goalies Jaroslav Halak and Jean-Francois Berube.

Next up
The 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

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