by Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine
Mike Richards notched the winner in the second round of the shootout, as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a two- goal third-period deficit to edge the New York Islanders, 4-3, at Nassau Coliseum.
Martin Biron foiled Frans Nielsen to open the second round before Richards tucked a shot off the right post and just beyond the right pad of Yann Danis.
Biron then easily halted a weak shot from Mark Streit to end the game in the Flyers' favor.
Joffrey Lupul tallied twice and Scott Hartnell once for the Flyers, who have won three of their last four games and remained in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 92 points.
Philly has won all five meetings with the Isles this season, and has reeled off 12 wins in their last 13 matchups dating back to the start of last season.
Following Pittsburgh's win over the Rangers earlier Saturday and Carolina's victory against New Jersey later Saturday, Philly moved one point ahead of the Hurricanes and two ahead of the Penguins.
Biron extended his personal winning streak over the Islanders to 11 games, making 30 saves.
Radek Martinek, Jeff Tambellini and Streit scored for the Islanders, who have dropped four of five and could not sustain the momentum from Friday's surprise 2-0 win in Detroit.
Danis took the loss despite a 33-save performance.
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead with 5:48 to play in the first period. Nate Thompson won a left-circle draw to Tim Jackman, who dished back to Martinek for a shot which changed direction on its way to the back of the net.
New York looked poised to go up 2-0 with a power-play score from Nielsen at the first-period buzzer, but a review determined the puck did not cross the goal line before time expired.
Tambellini did provide a two-goal lead for the Isles, batting a puck out of mid-air while facing away from the net 3:03 into the second period.
The Flyers began the third period by wiping out their two-goal deficit in a little less than four minutes.
Lupul darted down the right wing from end-to-end and slipped a shot behind Danis at the 4:24 mark.
Hartnell tied the game at 6:38, alertly backhanding the rebound of Jeff Carter's initial shot before Lupul lifted a backhander home on a breakaway at 7:58. That tally was the winger's 100th career goal, and his 23rd of the season.
However, Streit followed Kyle Okposo's rebound and tucked it between Biron's pads for a 3-3 deadlock just 51 seconds later.
Despite six shots and spirited play, neither team could finish a chance in overtime.
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