Islanders snap mini-slump, drop Flyers

Watch as New York Islanders defenceman Nick Leddy wisely accepts a fight with Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux.

Jaroslav Halak made 17 saves and Kyle Okposo put New York ahead early in the second period to lead the Islanders over the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Casey Cizikas and Frans Nielsen also scored and New York improved to 11-8-3.

The win snapped the Islanders’ two-game losing streak.

Steve Mason made 33 saves and Claude Giroux scored the Flyers’ lone goal.

Philadelphia has lost four of five and fell to 7-10-5.

The first of five meetings this season between Philadelphia and New York was a chippy affair. There were post-whistle scrums seemingly after every whistle, and tempers boiled over in the second period when Nick Leddy fought Giroux.

Leddy had earned the Flyers’ ire in the first period after boarding Michael Raffl face first into the half boards.

Seven minutes after the Leddy-Giroux fight, Matt Martin squared off with Wayne Simmonds.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.