Flyers Fall to Islanders on Late Game-Winning Goal

Just over 60 seconds into the contest, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier was sent to the box for a trip on Simon Holmstrom, giving the New York Islanders a golden opportunity early on.

A great defensive play by Christian Dvorak just outside the Flyers end led to an offensive chance for the orange and black.

Dvorak found himself one-on-one with Ilya Sorokin, dropping a between-the-legs pass to a wide open Travis Sanheim who banked it in, giving the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

Philadelphia rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin tallied three of Philadelphia's six shots in the first period. Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet placed Grebenkin on the top line with Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier, looking to help all but solidify him a spot on the opening night roster.

Early on in the second period, the Islanders evened the score on a goal from Max Shabanov. A great jump into the Flyers' end by Simon Holmstrom who back-handed a pass to Maxim Tsyplakov who fed Shabanov for the tie.

After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Philadelphia regained the lead as Konecny, off a pass from Nick Seeler, one-timed a go-ahead goal from the slot, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead.

It took the Islanders just 15 seconds to deadlock the score as a bad turnover by Grebenkin in the corner sailed the puck to the stick of Anders Lee, who fired a shot past Sam Ersson for the 2-2 score.

The Flyers showed off a successful penalty killing unit, forbidding New York from converting on a Egor Zamula hooking call with just under seven minutes remaining in the second.

The man-advantage finally went Philadelphia's way as Islanders forward Kyle MacLean was called for a slash on Owen Tippett. Unfortunately for the Flyers, a bad turnover from Michkov led to a 2-on-0 break for Jean-Gabriel Pageau who waited for defenseman Adam Pelech. Pageau slid a cross-crease pass to the seasoned veteran who's late-period goal gave New York its first lead of the game.

It didn't take the Flyers long to replicate what the Islanders had done as Tyson Foerster found an open Noah Cates, who slam-dunked a game-tying goal into an empty cage, tying the game with just under two minutes to play.

Foerster spoke to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Ashlyn Sullivan after the second period, showing his excitement to return to the team after a lengthy offseason injury and getting used to Tocchet behind the bench.

"I'm back now and I'm happy to be here," Foerster said. "He's (Tocchet) been great and the boys love him."

For 16 minutes of the third period, both teams exchanged back-and-forth shots as both Ersson and Sorokin stood tall.

However, with 2:54 to play, Anthony Duclair fed a speeding Emil Heineman who beat Ersson to give New York a late 4-3 lead.

Heineman's goal stood as the game-winner as New York stood victorious.