Nobody needs to remind the New York Islanders the clinching game of a postseason series is the toughest to win.
For the third time this postseason, the Islanders will take a second crack at closing out a series Thursday night when they are scheduled to face the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Toronto.
The top-seeded Flyers staved off a furious third-period comeback by the sixth-seeded Islanders and avoided elimination Tuesday night, when Scott Laughton scored with 7:40 left in overtime to lift Philadelphia to a 4-3 win. New York forced the extra session by scoring twice in the final 4:14 of regulation without star center Mathew Barzal, who exited when he was accidentally hit in the face by Claude Giroux's stick.