The Philadelphia Flyers got goals from Daniel Briere, Mike Richards and Kimmo Timonen to down the New York Islanders 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum Tuesday afternoon. Flyers goalie Marty Biron made 35 saves to earn the victory. The Islanders failed to click on the power play, going 0-for-8 and allowing a shorthanded goal. Trent Hunter got the lone score for New York.

It was Military Appreciation Day at the Nassau Coliseum and former Secretary of State Colin Powell was on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck.

While the Flyers won the game, they lost Briere who was just playing in his second game since returning from abdominal surgery. Briere scored the first goal of the game at the 13:40 mark of the second period and did not return after celebrating the goal with a fist pump.

"I am playing it on the cautious side,” Briere said after the game. "It’s a lower body injury and at this point I’d rather not say more. It has nothing to do with the surgery. It’s just another thing that popped up."

The Islanders had plenty of chances to score, tallying 36 shots on goal, but Biron was strong in goal and kept the Isles at bay. Perhaps most frustrating for New York was their failure on the power play. The Islanders had eight chances with the man advantage including two 5-on-3 opportunities. They failed to score on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal by Mike Richards that increased the Philadelphia lead to 2-0 midway through the third period.

"When you go 0-for-8 with two 5-on-3s and give up a shorthanded goal, it’s on us on the power play," Islander center, Doug Weight said. "No matter what five guys you have out there, you have to change the momentum of the game. You have to score on those. We just didn’t do it.

"They kill differently than other teams. They were sending two guys high and they know Billy [Guerin] and [Mark] Streit want to shoot. We have plenty of talent to work the puck down low but we just didn't do it. We entered the zone in the wrong position and we stayed there."

On Richards' goal, Weight was on the point and was unable to get to a lose puck, setting up the odd-man rush for Philadelphia.

"You make a choice, we're a goal down and I was just thinking, 'Get in there and block it' and then you're in no-man's land," Weight said. "I made a bad decision but it was clean and he made a good play to get around me and I made a decision not to take a penalty and it bit me in the butt. It was a bad read."

Islander goalie Joey MacDonald, who made 29 saves and played well in the loss, was disappointed his teammates did not get back quickly enough on the Richards shorthanded goal.

"My number one thing is just stopping the puck," MacDonald explained. "I couldn’t have read it any more perfectly. That’s where I wanted the rebound to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t backcheck and pick up the guy. The power play has to outwork the penalty kill, and it didn’t."

Hunter gave the Islanders some hope when his shot from the left faceoff dot squirted through Biron's pads to pull the Isles within 2-1.

The Islanders were unable to mount much late pressure, especially after rookie Josh Bailey took a high sticking penalty with just 2:40 left in the game. Bailey, the Islanders first round selection in this year's NHL Entry Draft, was making his NHL debut after missing the first 14 games with an abdominal/groin injury. He played 12:30 and took two minor penalties. He was on the ice for 3:01 of power play time and went 7-for-11 in face-offs.

"Josh looked like he belonged out there," said Islanders' Coach Scott Gordon. "He started to look more comfortable as the game progressed."

Timonen added an empty net goal with four seconds left on the clock to ice the win for the Flyers who ended a three-game losing streak.

Gordon saw some improvement from his team despite the loss. "It was probably one of our better games 5-on-5. We just didn't bury our chances," he said.

The Islanders' next chance will come Thursday night in Ottawa against the Senators. Philadelphia will face their cross-state rivals the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Thursday night as well.

Notes

The Islanders have allowed 23 goals in the third period this season, the most in the league.

Biron is now 16-4-1 with a 1.87 GAA in 21 career games against the Islanders.

Center Mike Comrie was scratched with inflammation in his hip. Comrie underwent hip surgery during the off-season. He is listed as day-to-day.

Defenseman Radek Martinek continues to practice with the team and is expected to return to action shortly. Martinek has been out of the lineup with a shoulder injury.