Flyers unbeaten in past eight vs. Isles

In his worst outing of the season, DiPietro allowed five goals on 21 shots as Dan McGillis had a goal and two assists to help the Flyers to a 5-2 victory on Friday night.

"Every goalie has a game where he lets in a couple of goals he`d like to have back," DiPietro said. "I have to learn from my mistakes and try not to let them happen again."

Simon Gagne, Daymond Langkow, Jody Hull and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for the Flyers, who extended their unbeaten streak against New York to eight games (7-0-1).

Roman Cechmanek made 23 saves for his 21st win as the Flyers moved within two points of the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils.

Mariusz Czerkawski and Mark Lawrence scored for the Islanders, who lost their third straight game and league-leading 32nd of the season.

Philadelphia took advantage of two power plays in the first period for a 2-0 lead.

Gagne opened the scoring at 15:53 on a power play when he beat DiPietro with a slap shot for his 23rd goal of the season.

Philadelphia got another power-play goal with 34 seconds left in the period when McGillis was credited with his 10th goal. Keith Primeau`s centering pass hit McGillis` skate while he was being hooked down by Tim Connolly and the puck was deflected past DiPietro.

"(Connolly) hooked me around backwards," McGillis said. "I didn`t know where it hit me."

Czerkawski made it 2-1 at 13:04 of the second during a 4-on-3 power play when he converted Brad Isbister`s cross-ice pass.

A television timeout at 14:17 helped the Flyers restore a two-goal lead. Langkow took a pass from Eric Desjardins at the left post and tried to stuff it past DiPietro`s pad. The goal light never came on, and referee Rob Shick ruled it no goal.

Initially, video replay judge Tom Monahan agreed with Shick after looking at the team`s video feeds. But the game broke for commercials, and FoxSportsNet showed replays from various angles, and one of them showed the puck crossed the line. Monahan signaled down to the officials that it was a goal.

Islanders coach Butch Goring, livid on the bench, said less after the game.

"No comment," Goring said when questioned about the replay. "I don`t care."

DiPietro thought he kept the puck out of the net.

"When I picked up my glove, it was on the line," DiPietro said. "I didn`t think it was in, but it was their call."

The Flyers thought DiPietro pulled the puck out.

"His foot was coming over towards the post. He squished it and put his glove over it, but it was definitely in," Langkow said. "I`m just glad they made the right call."

Desjardins said he knew the puck was in.

"It was a goal the whole time," Desjardins said. "I don`t understand why they didn`t find that out until the timeout. It was weird."

In the third period, Hull scored a short-handed goal at 9:48 off a 2-on-1 break, and Fedotenko broke in and beat DiPietro at 12:46.

Lawrence sent a wrist shot off Cechmanek`s pad at 18:16.

It was not a great night for the Islanders, who rushed out after the game to try to get a flight into Montreal before an ice storm hit the city.

DiPietro, winless in four starts, allowed as many goals against the Flyers on Friday as he had in his previous three losses combined.

"It`s one of those nights where the puck goes off skates and into the net," DiPietro said. "That`s going to happen, and all I can do is try to take the positives out of it."

Game notes
Islanders forward Mark Parrish suffered a Grade II sprain of his right medial collateral ligament on his second shift three minutes into the game after being hit by McGillis. Parrish is expected to miss about four weeks. ... New York also lost defenseman Kenny Jonsson in the second period to a lower back sprain. He`s listed as day to day. ... The Islanders` last win over the Flyers was a 4-3 overtime decision in Philadelphia on Mar. 5, 2000. New York`s last home victory against Philadelphia was 4-2 on Nov. 25, 1998.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: AP