Islanders best the Flyers, 2-1, handing them their fourth straight preseason loss

ELMONT, N.Y. — Just as badly as the Flyers need to learn how to find the back of the net, they also need to learn how to play with a lead.

After scoring the game’s first goal in the second period, by Tony DeAngelo on a five-on-three, the Flyers relinquished the momentum and gave the game back to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. The Islanders scored two consecutive goals, one on the power play and one just as a Flyers penalty expired, to win 2-1 and hand the Flyers their fourth straight loss of the preseason.

But with a roster filled with young, relatively inexperienced players at the NHL level, coach John Tortorella isn’t reading too much into the Flyers’ latest exhibition loss.

“The biggest thing we’re evaluating is handling when there is a change of momentum, looking at their work ethic,” Tortorella said. “I thought they played hard. Were we smooth? Did we make a lot of plays? No, but they played hard.”

In the final two minutes of the third period, the Flyers attempted to even the score by pulling goalie Samuel Ersson for a six-on-five. The Flyers played hard until the end, as forward Noah Cates fired a point-blank shot right into the chest of goalie Jakub Skarek with one second remaining in regulation.

» READ MORE: John Tortorella makes debut behind Flyers bench on Sunday night

The Flyers have now been outscored 12-5 through five preseason games. Although preseason isn’t necessarily about winning and playing perfect systems, the Flyers have lacked offensive finish.

Throughout the preseason, the Flyers front office and coaching staff have shown that they view forward Morgan Frost as a versatile asset. For his first three games, Frost played center, but Tortorella shifted him to left wing on the Flyers’ second line against the Islanders. Additionally, Frost has been a part of both special team units, and made an impact on the Flyers’ five-on-three power play early in the second period to help the team get on the board Sunday night.

Frost acted as a distributor below the goal line, sliding the puck to DeAngelo at the top of the right faceoff circle. His slap shot soared past goalie Semyon Varlamov to put the Flyers up. The Flyers haven’t been scoring much in the preseason, but Frost has factored in with assists on three of their five goals through five games. With Frost on a one-year, $800,000 prove-it deal, he must show this year that he is capable of contributing on a nightly basis at the NHL level.

“I haven’t been maybe creating, even though [I’ve had] a couple of points here and there, but I haven’t been creating as much as I would like to,” he said. “I feel really good out there, it’s just maybe some execution and maybe shaking a little bit of the rust off, getting back into games against other teams.”

After turning heads in the second Flyers rookie game against the New York Rangers when he made 36 saves, 22-year-old Samuel Ersson sought to continue to make a statement in his first extended look of the preseason. Ersson spent all 60 minutes in net and found himself under siege at times throughout the night. The first time came on an Islanders power play, when forward Kyle Palmieri capitalized on a bounce off the boards. Ersson attempted to make a diving desperation save, but he couldn’t get his glove on the puck.

Defenseman Scott Mayfield scored the Islanders’ second goal later in the second period from the blue line with plenty of traffic in front of Ersson. Through three periods, Ersson looked solid overall and denied 21 of 23 shots. Ersson’s full game came in the wake of Felix Sandström sustaining a lower-body injury on Saturday against the Boston Bruins. Starting goalie Carter Hart has also been dealing with a lower-body injury during camp and aims to play in the final preseason game on Tuesday.

At Stillwater (Minn.) High School and at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, brothers Jackson and Noah Cates have almost always played the same roles on the ice — Jackson at center and Noah on the wing. But on Sunday night, Tortorella deviated from the norm, assigning Jackson to third-line left wing and Noah to third-line center. Noah helped create one of the Flyers’ best scoring chances in the first period, collecting a Tyson Foerster rebound and attempting to score on a wraparound.

Aside from the late high-sticking call, Noah showed a sense of responsibility in his own zone. When Ersson failed to control a rebound in the middle of the third period, Noah swooped in and cleared the puck away from the crease and out of the reach of the Islanders. Jackson got involved on offense, tying for the Flyers’ lead with three shots on goal.

The Flyers return home for their preseason finale against the Islanders on Tuesday at 7 p.m.