James van Riemsdyk scored his first NHL hat trick at the Flyers continued their dominance over the Islanders 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. The win extends the Flyers lead atop the Eastern conference over the Washington Capitals, who lost 2-0 to Ottawa last tonight.
The Flyers first goal came from a Jeff Carter wrist shot straight from a faceoff. van Riemsdyk would score his first just 22 seconds later after a feed from Kris Versteeg. The Islanders would get a goal back shortly after, but the Flyers would restore their lead when Andrej Mezaros banked a pass off the end boards that van Riemsdyk knocked in for his second of the night.
van Riemsdyk's third would come in the third period to extend the Flyers lead to 4-1. Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves and allowed just one goal for his second straight night.
This was the Flyers fifth win over the Isles this season and 20th win in their last 21 meetings with New York. Next up for the Flyers is the Boston Bruins tomorrow night in Philadelphia.