PHILADELPHIA – Michal Handzus scored twice and Simon Gagne added his NHL-leading seventh goal to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

One night after blowing a four-goal, second-period lead in an overtime win against Pittsburgh, the Flyers dominated all three periods and showed no signs of letting New York rally.

Robert Esche stopped 19 shots for the Flyers, who outshot the Islanders 46-20.

Handzus scored the first and last goals of a four-goal first period for the Flyers.

Handzus’ first goal came off a one-timer on a pass from Mike Richards.

New York’s Mike York tied on a two-man advantage, but the Flyers took over from there. After the Islanders had the first four power plays, the Flyers had the next seven. Philadelphia scored twice off the power play on 12 attempts.

With goalie Rick DiPietro out with a concussion, the Islanders turned to backup Garth Snow. Snow couldn’t keep up with a Flyers’ offense scoring from all angles.

Keith Primeau passed the puck out from behind the net to Patrick Sharp, who scored a power-play goal for a 2-1 lead. Kim Johnsson scored less than 3 minutes later for a 3-1 lead.

Then Handzus scored the nicest goal of the game. He knocked his shot off Snow’s leg and the puck bounced back as his body slid across the crease. Handzus reached back with his stick as far as it could go and tapped it in for a 4-1 lead.

After the Islanders were called for interference and a holding penalty, Gagne scored his seventh goal, redirected from Eric Desjardins’ pass that made it 5-1.

Gagne has scored a goal in all five games.

Notes: Richards finished with two assists. … C Peter Forsberg added his league-best 10th assist on Gagne’s goal. … The Flyers are 3-1-0 at home. All four games have been sellouts. Four of their next five are on the road. … Gagne set a career high for consecutive games with a goal. … Flyers LW Donald Brashear was left bloodied after a third-period fight with Eric Godard.

AP-ES-10-15-05 2133EDT


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