The Upshot: Islanders shutout the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 to keep pace in playoff race

HOW IT HAPPENED

The New York Islanders kept pace in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena on Saturday night. Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves and recorded his league-leading sixth shutout of the season. It was also the 16th shutout of his career in just 128 starts. Scott Mayfield scored the first goal of the game to give the Isles (41-30-9) a 1-0 lead at 14:19 of the first period. In the second, Brock Nelson and Samuel Bolduc scored on Carey Hart to extend the lead. Hart allowed three goals on 18 shots for the Flyers (29-37-13) and was replaced by Felix Sandstrom at the start of the third period for Philadelphia. Hudson Fasching scored the Isles fourth goal in the third period. Bo Horvat, Simon Holmstrom, and Noah Dobson each had two assists.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

With Alexander Romanov out of the lineup for the third straight game, Samuel Bolduc has stepped in and shown why the organization is high on him becoming a regular for seasons to come. With the Islanders leading 2-0, Holmstrom banked a pass out of the zone to Horvat, who gained the zone, stopped, and found a trailing Bolduc, who beat Hart with a sharp wrister to give the Islanders a comfortable 3-0 lead headed into the third period.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Islanders didn't come out great. The Flyers played quick in the first 10 minutes of the game and had the better of the chances. It took the Islanders a while to settle into their game ahead of taking a 1-0 lead on Scott Mayfield's goal.

The Islanders had to take care of business because once again they got no help on the scoreboard as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 in a game where Sidney Crosby registered his 1,500th career point. Later in the night in DC, Mathew Tkachuk scored with one minute to play to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 lead over the Washington Capitals. They added an empty netter for a 4-2 win and remain as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

STATS OF THE GAME

Per NHL PR, Ilya Sorokin (27 saves) notched his 16th career shutout and tied Rick DiPietro for third most in Islanders history. Glenn Resch (25) and Billy Smith (22) sit first and second, respectively. The 27-year-old also became the fifth goaltender in Islanders history to reach the 30-win mark in a season, joining Rick DiPietro(32 in 2006-07 & 30 in 2005-06), Jaroslav Halak(38 in 2014-15), Billy Smith(32 in 1981-82) and Chris Osgood(32 in 2001-02).

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT OF THE GAME

This quote from Bo Horvat will certainly not go down well in Western Canada.

The former Canucks captain said the atmosphere during the playoff push has been "a lot better than Vancouver." Spoken like a player that will be playing his next eight seasons on Long Island.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Islanders are in DC on Monday night for their final road game of the regular season as they take on the Washington Capitals at 7:00 PM ET.