On Friday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced it has suspended New York Islanders forward Max Tsyplakov for three games for his illegal check to the head of Flyers forward Ryan Poehling on Thursday night. The third game of his suspension is a rematch between the Flyers and Islanders at UBS Arena.

The Flyers have won three of four and have points in four straight games following an emotional 5-3 win against the Islanders.

The New York Islanders suffered their second straight loss, falling 5-3 at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Bo Horvat (PPG), Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee (PPG) scored for the Islanders,

Joel Farabee had two assists, and Samuel Ersson made 26 saves for the Flyers (20-20-6), who extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1). Farabee was a healthy scratch for each of the previous three games.

Two-point effort Thursday

Despite scoring to power-play goals, the Islanders fall 5-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. ELMONT NY -- The New York Islanders began the night desperate for two points after dropping the first game of their current seven game home-stand Tuesday vs. Ottawa. However they found no success against the Flyers, falling 5-3.

While the New York Islanders and the NHL thought Tsyplakov's hit was clean, the Philadelphia Flyers certainly disagreed.

Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny added three assists and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Islanders 5-3 on Thursday night.

This is what it looks like when the season slips away in January. A disastrous second period, a total squandering of momentum, a team that played most of the night as though nobody was on the same page and a home crowd that sounded more disappointed than upset.

Islanders rookie Maxim Tsyplakov had a target on his back after delivering a hard shoulder check on Poehling, who left the game.

The Philadelphia Flyers advance to 20-20-6 after their 5-3 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday.  Though the Islanders scored the game-opening score, the Flyers were in control for most of the game.