Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season, Marc Gatcomb scored his first NHL goal and the New York Islanders won their sixth straight game with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

A few weeks ago, the Eastern Conference Playoff race seemed as crowded as possible. Only a handful of points separated teams in the last few spots from those at the bottom of the conference.

The New York Islanders (22-20-7) dug deep. They won their fifth game in a row, closing out a very successful homestand with an emphatic third period against the Colorado Avalanche (29-21-2).

Simon Holmstrom scored twice and added an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night

Tyson Foerster scored the lone goal for Philadelphia as the Flyers fall to the New York Islanders 3-1 Friday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored twice and added an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

NEW YORK -- — Simon Holmstrom scored twice and added an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

The New York Rangers missed a chance to get closer but didn't lose ground in the playoff race the past few days.

Sorokin made 24 saves in a 3-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday. Sorokin has won five straight games and seven of his last eight games. He's also run up three shutouts in that span. Sorokin is an elite netminder who hasn't been getting a lot of support from his teammates,

Sorokin is set to start on the road against Philadelphia on Thursday, according to Andrew Gross of Newsday. Sorokin has won his past four outings while stopping 85 of 89 shots (.955 save percentage).