Uniondale, NY (AP) - The Flyers snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat in a dramatic and furious comeback in the final period that could only leave Islanders fans shaking their heads in stunned silence.

It's really hard to put into words a game with a finish like this.  Philadelphia was trailing 4-1 more than halfway into the third period.  The Flyers had been playing sloppy all game and just weren't generating a whole lot of scoring chances.   It seemed like they had no shot of scoring one goal - let alone enough to come back, or even take the lead.

That's why they play the games.

The orange and black mounted a ferocious onslaught seemingly out of nowhere, turning a certain victory into an unbelievable two points, scoring 4 goals in the final 8:30 of the game to beat New York 5-4.

"It's just one of those wild games where, at the end, you shrug your shoulders and say, 'Ok, we'll take that,'" said Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette.  "These kinds of games can really define a team.  Hopefully, we'll use this as a spring board to even better play."

"To turn things around like that, it's just proof that we can do anything as a team.  To a man, nobody gave up, we all kept fighting for each other, and that's why we were able to win," said Philadelphia captain and defenseman Chris Pronger.

James van Riemsdyk's second goal of the game with just over a minute left tied the game at 4. Philly had trailed 4-1 earlier in the third period.

For the average hockey fan, this game was pretty ugly early on.  Neither team did a good job of controlling the puck, and because of the turnovers, the Flyers and Islanders both struggled to generate good scoring chances.  Action finally began to pick up towards the end of the first period, when both teams hit the post 30 seconds apart.

Philadelphia finished the first period with a bit of a fleury, getting four shots on the net in the last minute of play.  But, they couldn't jam anything home.  Overall, however, the Islanders were the better team in the first period.

"They controlled the puck more, they generated more scoring chances, they were more physical than us.  They really took it to us, and we were very lucky to still be tied going into that first break," said Laviolette.

Once the puck dropped in the second period, however, the action took a dramatic turn.  The Islanders dominated play even further, getting shot after shot on Bryzgalov.  The Flyers netminder was able to turn away a bunch of shots, in fact just flat out robbing New York on three consecutive shots five minutes into the period.

"How they didn't score on him then, I'll never figure out," said Pronger in disbelief.  "We did such a poor job on defense in that period, it was basically target practice on Ilya.  The fact that we weren't down by more is amazing, and it's all on him for saving our butts as much as he did."

Still, despite Bryzgalov's standout play, the Islanders managed to finally break through for some goals.  Just over one minute into the second period, Moulson took it into the zone for what started as an innocent enough attack.  He carried it on the left side through the circle and took a pretty tough angled shot that managed to slip past Bryzgalov on the near side for the first goal of the game.

"That was weak.  No excuse, I have to stop those kind of shots," said a frustrated Bryzgalov.

New York continued to generate a lot of scoring chances but were turned away each time.  The Flyers found the equalizer on a power play that lasted all of 4 seconds midway through the period.  After Tavares went to the sin bin for interference, Claude Giroux won the faceoff back to Meszaros, who fired the puck towards the net.  It richochetted off an Islanders player towards the left corner boards, then bounced right back to James van Riemsdyk.  He was able to sneak it through Dipietro's glove and into the net to tie the game at one.

"Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good," said van Riemsdyk.  He'd later show off the "good" part of his game.

But first, the bad part of Philadelphia's game.  The defense continued its sloppy play throughout the period, and the Islanders would ultimately take advantage with two more goals.  The final one of the period came on the power play, when Nielsen was left all alone in the slot to take a pass from Okposo and easily one time it home for the 3-1 advantage.  New York dominated the period in just about every way possible, and outshot the Flyers 23-10 in the second session.  The one positive Philly could take into the second intermission was their physical play.  They outhit the Islanders 15-5.

The third period didn't start any better for the orange and black, as Tavares was able to take a rebound off the side of the net, with Flyers defenseman Bobby Coburn skating right past the puck, and stuff it past Bryzgalov for a seemingly unsurmountable 4-1 lead.

Again, that's why they play the game all the way to the buzzer.

It started innocently enough.  With 8:30 left in the game, the Flyers were able to draw a slashing penalty and go on the power play.  They didn't waste much time, again scoring quickly from a designed play off the draw.  Matthew Carle hit Meszaros with a pass to the point, and he fired at the net.  Maxime Talbot was able to redirect it for his third goal of the season.

James van Riemsdyk is turning into a goal scoring machine for Philly. This power play goal in the second period was one of two on the night. He now has 10 goals this season.

A little more than four minutes later, Scott Hartnell forced an Islanders turnover on a strong forecheck.  He hit a streaking Claude Giroux, who took it deep into the slot one-on-one with Dipietro and beat him high to the right side.  Suddenly, Philadelphia was within striking distance with a little under 5 minutes to play.

"That turnover was really big," said Giroux.  "I wouldn't have even gotten a shot if it weren't for Scott busting his butt trying to cause trouble.  He did a great job forcing that turnover, and then getting the puck to me with a lot of open ice to work with.  I scored, but that was really all Scotty."

New York was clearly back on their heels, and the Flyers continued surging forward with their attack.  Finally, with just over a minute left, Philadelphia was holding the puck on a delayed penatly call.  But, the Flyers moved in on the attack, as Talbot hit van Riemsdyk, who carried it into the offensive zone.  The Islanders gave him some room to move, and he took advantage, getting down to the left circle and firing a shot on Dipietro.  He made the initial stop, but it bounced up in the air, off of Dipietro's left shoulder and into the back of the net.

At this point, the Islanders were clearly falling apart and desperately just wanted to get the game into overtime.  But, the orange and black wouldn't let that happen.  Just 24 seconds after tying it, Philadelphia completed the improbably come back when Hartnell pounded home a rebound off a shot from the point by Carle, who ended up assisting on the final three Flyers goals.

"Those are just more examples of what can happen when you put the puck on net," said Laviolette.  "We didn't get the bounces early on, but we certainly did in that last period.  It all evened out, in the end - or maybe even ended up in our favor."

After stealing this one for their 14th win of the season, the Flyers now sit tied for second in the Eastern Conference with Toronto, just one point back from the top spot held by Carolina.  Up next for Philadelphia: a trip home to face the Canadians before embarking on a four game road trip that will take them to New York to play the Rangers, then Anaheim, Phoenix and Buffalo.

"We've got a tough stretch coming up," said Hartnell.  "But, if tonight shows us anything, it's that we can accomplish anything.  So, we'll just stick together as a team, and we'll see where we stand after the road trip."

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS at NEW YORK ISLANDERS - Nov 23, 2011
Shot Summary 1 2 3 OT F Philadelphia (14-6-1) 5 10 11 -- 26 NY Islanders (10-9-0) 8 23 13 -- 44 Three Stars Matthew Carle, PHI 3 Assists, 4 Hits, 1 Shot, +2 James van Riemsdyk, PHI 2 Goals, 1 Hits, 3 Shots, +1 Scott Hartnell, PHI 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 2 Hits, 1 Shot	Team Comparison Stats PHI NYI Shots on Goal 26 44 Hits 16 10 Faceoffs Won-Lost 17 25 Penalty Minutes 2:00 6:00 Power Plays Converted 2-3 1-1 Passing Percentage 69% 77% Time on Attack 4:54 6:15
SCORING SUMMARY SECOND PERIOD 1:23 M. Moulson (6), (M. Streit) 9:50 J. van Riemsdyk (9), (A. Meszaros, C. Giroux) 13:14 B. Comeau (3), (M. Mottau) 15:30 F. Nielsen (3), (K. Okposo, P. Parenteau) THIRD PERIOD 0:39 J. Tavares (5), (T. Hamonic) 11:29 M. Talbot (3), (A. Meszaros, M. Carle) 15:46 C. Giroux (5), (S. Hartnell) 18:41 J. van Riemsdyk (10), (M. Talbot, M. Carle) 19:05 S. Hartnell (6), (M. Carle)
PENALTIES SUMMARY SECOND PERIOD Interference (Minor) [9:45] J. Tavares Slashing (Minor) [13:35] N. Zherdev THIRD PERIOD Hooking (Minor) [1:03] J. Tavares Slashing (Minor) [11:23] M. Grabner
Philadelphia Flyers - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA I. Bryzgalov 44 40 91% 4.01
Philadelphia Flyers - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM B. Betts 11:43 0 0 -1 0 0:00 N. Boynton 14:24 0 0 0 1 0:00 D. Briere 23:41 0 0 1 6 0:00 M. Carle 23:23 0 3 2 1 0:00 B. Coburn 20:26 0 0 -2 0 0:00 C. Giroux 21:21 1 1 1 3 0:00 S. Hartnell 21:21 1 1 0 1 0:00 J. Jagr 10:49 0 0 -1 2 0:00 A. Meszaros 16:52 0 2 0 1 0:00 C. Pronger 24:21 0 0 -1 2 0:00 B. Schenn 9:23 0 0 0 0 0:00 J. Shelley 13:05 0 0 -1 0 0:00 W. Simmonds 8:02 0 0 0 1 0:00 M. Talbot 17:33 1 1 0 1 0:00 K. Timonen 20:34 0 0 1 0 0:00 J. van Riemsdyk 15:23 2 0 1 3 0:00 J. Voracek 17:28 0 0 0 4 0:00 N. Zherdev 8:26 0 0 1 0 2:00
New York Islanders - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA R. Dipietro 26 21 81% 5.03
New York Islanders - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM J. Bailey 14:20 0 0 0 1 0:00 B. Comeau 17:24 1 0 2 2 0:00 M. Eaton 22:03 0 0 -2 2 0:00 T. Gillies 10:59 0 0 0 2 0:00 M. Grabner 19:44 0 0 -2 3 2:00 T. Hamonic 23:39 0 1 1 1 0:00 T. Hunter 10:22 0 0 0 2 0:00 J. Joensuu 15:35 0 0 0 3 0:00 M. Jurcina 21:20 0 0 -2 1 0:00 A. MacDonald 18:21 0 0 1 0 0:00 M. Martin 17:01 0 0 -2 2 0:00 M. Mottau 14:20 0 1 1 3 0:00 M. Moulson 16:17 1 0 2 5 0:00 F. Nielsen 15:15 1 0 -2 4 0:00 K. Okposo 10:35 0 1 0 6 0:00 P. Parenteau 13:20 0 1 0 4 0:00 M. Streit 20:17 0 1 1 1 0:00 J. Tavares 17:21 1 0 2 2 4:00