NY Islanders make it six in a row with a shutout win against Philadelphia

Islanders continue to be impressive, as win streak now at six straight games

The New York Islanders (23-20-7) convincingly shutout the Philadelphia Flyers (23-24-6), 3-0 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly to move up in the standings. After moving past three teams in the Eastern Conference with the win, the Isles are four points out of a playoff spot.

The Flyers were playing back-to-back games, following a 5-0 loss to the NJ Devils the night before. Playing their best hockey of the season, the Isles have won nine of their last 11 games with 32 remaining. They've gone from improbable to quite possible, with regards to making the playoffs for the 24/25 season, and continue to surprise opponents. The depth at defense that GM Lou Lamoriello has added via the trade recently has gone a long way by adding confidence and skill to the depleted unit.

What has been key for the Islanders during this winning streak:

Ilya Sorokin gets his sixth win in his last seven games, as the Islanders goalie has returned to Vezina Trophy form, earning his third shutout of the season. There's every reason to believe that Sorokin will start around 25 of the remaining 32 games (depending on the health of Semyon Varlamov and Marcus Hogberg), especially with backup Jakub Skarek being untested in the NHL.

The penalty kill was impressive, going three for three including a four-minute high-sticking minor to Adam Pelech. Both groups transitioned from a diamond to box formation well, with sticks in the passing lanes, mainly allowing Philly only outside passes and attempts. The timeliness of the Islanders' secondary scoring has been a big factor in their drive to make this year's playoffs.

The team got goals from Simon Holmstrom (his 13th of the season and 3rd in the last 2 games), Marc Gatcomb scored his first career NHL goal at age 25, and Kyle Palmieri scored his first goal in 15 games for the club. The Islanders' Fourth Line of Max Tysplakov, Kyle MacLean, and Marc Gatcomb look to be forming their own "Identity" by forechecking hard, finishing checks, and adding to the score sheet. It looks like coach Patrick Roy has the option of rolling all four lines on a nightly basis thanks to this new-found chemistry.

Speaking of Coach Roy, whoever is in his ear when it comes to coaches challenges, they need a raise. It was the second in as many games that Roy had a successful challenge, this time against the Flyers' Morgan Frost for goaltender interference.

A milestone, players MIA and still looking for a sign of life from the Isles power play

Flyers' John Tortorella coached his 1,600th in the NHL in last night's game. Several players caught the eye of their coach, but not in a good way, during the Islander win. Flyers rookie winger, Matvei Michkov, was benched the rest of the game after the Simon Holmstrom goal. The 20-year-old, who is second in rookie goal scoring, missed his assignment leading to the goal.

Morgan Frost also was seen heading to the Flyers locker room, but the reason wasn't clear at the time. It turned out that Elliotte Friedman was indeed correct in his speculation of a trade between the Flyers and Calgary Flames. Frost and Joel Farabee, it turns out, were traded to the Flames for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, and a two draft picks.

NY Islanders defenseman Isaiah George, who has struggled in recent games, only played 4:03 minutes in the win. It looks like the Islanders will be trying out new defense pairings before their next game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night on the road. It might be best for the rookie George to watch a few games from the stands and work on his game during practices. The Islanders' power play has been bad this season, one of the worst in NHL history since the stat has been kept in the 1970s. They moved the puck better with the addition of Tony DeAngelo to the first unit, but shots still aren't getting through to the net. There's also a reluctance to shoot the puck, with the units looking for the perfect play instead of having a shoot-first mentality. We'll see what assistant coach MacLean can draw up against Tampa Bay.