Flyers not displeased, even with shootout loss to Islanders

SIXTY-FIVE minutes.

One-hundred thirty-eight shots blasted by both teams, including the 43 attempts that were blocked and the 32 that missed the net entirely.

Zero goals.

Strange game. Familiar result.

Somehow, when it was all over and fans were awakened from their slumber, Ilya Bryzgalov skated off with his 25th career shutout last night while the New York Islanders celebrated their 1-0, shootout win over the Flyers at the other end of the ice.

Wait, what?

"That's a first," Bryzgalov said. "It's much nicer when you win the game."

More important, last night marked the first time the Flyers had skated to a snoozing stalemate through both regulation and overtime since Dec. 6, 2005, against Calgary. It was the latest they had gone in a game without scoring since Ryan Potulny broke a scoreless tie with 16.5 seconds left in regulation on Feb. 3, 2010, in Edmonton.

The loss pushed the Flyers' winless streak to three games - they are now 1-2-2 in their last five games - but you wouldn't know that after the game.

The Flyers were all smiles in the locker room - even though they posted the franchise's second-most shots (45) ever in a shutout loss. The dubious record of 48 was set back on Feb. 15, 1969, in a 3-0 loss to Chicago.

"We couldn't find the back of the net," Danny Briere said after his first game back from a concussion. "We did what we wanted. We created chances. We had a lot of shots. Barely any turnovers, which was good to see.

"That's going to happen once in a while."

It was the third time the Flyers - with the league's second-best offense - were held off the scoresheet this season.

Last night, Evgeni Nabokov nearly singlehandedly guaranteed that the Flyers will not collect at least 10 points in the season series against the Islanders for the first time since 2006-07. They were 26-2-0 against the Islanders since 2007.

No matter the opportunity - a point-blank one-timer in the first period from Jaromir Jagr that was deflected out of play by a sliding New York defenseman, a broken stick from Claude Giroux on the follow-through with an empty net in front - the Flyers couldn't find a way to beat Nabokov.

What more could the Flyers have done?

"More than 86 attempts?" coach Peter Laviolette asked. "There were bodies there [at the net] at times. Look, we didn't score tonight. But it wasn't for a lack of trying.