Deadspin | Flyers, Islanders face off looking to gain ground in East Trending Global News

The Philadelphia Flyers squandered a one-goal lead Tuesday night, but at least managed to salvage a point in a game that could end up being in the playoffs.

The New York Islanders could find no such consolation in their most recent loss.

A pair of teams trying to stay in the Eastern Conference wild-card race will meet on Thursday night when the Flyers meet the Islanders in Elmont, NY.

Both teams were out of the game on Wednesday after losses on Tuesday night. The Flyers lost 3–2 to the host Columbus Blue Jackets in a shootout, and the Islanders began a seven-game homestand with a 2–0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Owen Tippett scored 8:13 into the third period to give the Flyers a 2–1 lead, but Zach Werenski tied the game a little more than seven minutes later, before Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko scored in the shootout. Goals scored as the Blue Jackets held off Philadelphia. By gaining a lead in the playoff race.

With the win, the Blue Jackets (48 points) retained sole possession of the second wild card. The Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins all have 44 points — and they’re also behind the Senators (47 points) and Montreal Canadiens (46 points).

The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Flyers, who set back-to-backs after overcoming a two-goal first period deficit on Monday in a 4-3 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Were trying to win. Philadelphia’s two longest winning streaks of the season were three games.

“We put a lot of energy into our game (Monday) night,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said after Tuesday’s loss. “Frustrating for me because we had a chance to win it. We (got) it away a little bit (in the end), but we’ll just take the point and go.”

The disappointment deepened for the Islanders, whose season-high three-game winning streak ended as they fell seven points behind the Blue Jackets and six behind the Senators. New York is in last place in the Metropolitan Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres.

The Islanders lost 27-24 on Tuesday as their familiar offensive woes continued. New York remained scoreless in its only power-play opportunity as its streak of games without a power-play goal reached 14 – the longest such run in team history. The team is 0 for 25 with the man advantage during the drought.

The Islanders, whose winning streak includes wins over the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club, allowed one or fewer goals Tuesday for the 14th time this season.

“We have to respond to that — I mean, the situation we were in, winning three in a row, having a chance to win four in a row, I think we should have been more hungry,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We should have shown more urgency than we did. Sometimes, you’ve got to dig those guys out, and for some reason, we didn’t do that.”

–Field Level Media