Flyers’ overtime goal sinks Islanders

Flyers 4, Islanders 3 (OT)

What went right …

1 Not your father’s Islanders — For the past three seasons the mere sight of those orange and black Flyers uniforms brought out the white flag from the Islanders, who came in here winless since April 2007, a span of 11 games. But the new-look Isles gave the Flyers all they could handle in this one, not even sagging after falling two goals behind in the third to force overtime on Matt Martin’s second goal. Despite Andrej Meszaros’ game-winner with 17.6 seconds left, the Isles got a deserved point.

2 Goalie switcheroo? — This looked like the kind of performance that had Flyers fans thinking Sergei Bobrovsky would be the choice in goal when the playoffs got under way. Then, the rookie surrendered two third-period goals, forcing the Flyers into overtime before pulling it out. It’s that kind of inconsistency that may lead Peter Laviolette to go with playoff-tested Brian Boucher when the “real” season gets under way.

3 Leading the way — The Flyers hold a commanding eight-point bulge over the Penguins in the Atlantic, with a game in hand. They are also nine points ahead of Tampa in the East. If the season ended Thursday, they’d face Carolina in the first round, but beware of the charging Devils, who can smell the playoffs after winning eight straight.