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Marc Gatcomb of the Islanders celebrates his first NHL goal...

Marc Gatcomb of the Islanders celebrates his first NHL goal with teammates during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn

PHILADELPHIA — There was neither artistry nor much offense. But there were another two points for the Islanders, now in the thick of the chase for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The Islanders extended their winning streak to six games by grinding out a 3-0 victory over the slumping, sluggish Flyers on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center to open a three-game road trip.

“I feel like everybody is part of it right now,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We’re playing just simple hockey. We just do what’s right to win and I think that’s what good teams do. Sometimes you have to play the game that’s offered to you and not try to do something different or force plays.”

The win allowed the Islanders (23-20-7) to leapfrog the Flyers, who have lost four of five, and the Rangers into fifth place in the Metropolitan Division, as well as the Canadiens in the conference standings. The Islanders are four points behind Columbus, which holds the second wild-card spot, and have one game in hand on the Blue Jackets.

It completed a 9-3-0 month for the Islanders that stands as the organization’s best January record by percentage since 1983, according to team statistician Eric Hornick.

Things will get considerably tougher with a game against the Lightning (27-20-3) on Saturday night and the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers (30-19-3) less than 24 hours later.

Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves for his third shutout and 21st of his career. “We played pretty disciplined and didn’t have a lot of penalty kills [3-for-3],” he said. “But they had a great start. I think we had the back-to-back today, not them. But we continued to play our way and play smart.”

Sorokin has allowed only four goals in his last four starts. Between his aggressive play and the way the Islanders kept his crease clear, there were few rebounds for the Flyers.

“He’s been very solid,” Roy said. “What I love about him right now is it looks easy. His reads are great, he’s moving well side to side and playing with confidence.”

“We were ready to play,” said Kyle Palmieri, who scored his first goal in 15 games, a four-on-four tally that made it 3-0 at 9:53 of the third period. “Every game is big for us, but a team above us in the standings, we were just excited for the challenge.”

The teams split two games during the Islanders’ just-completed 5-2-0 homestand.

Thursday marked the first time Maxim Tsyplakov faced Philadelphia after being suspended for three games for his high hit on the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling, who remains on injured reserve, in the Islanders’ 5-3 loss on Jan. 16.

Tsyplakov fought Scott Laughton at 4:51 of the first period. With that out of the way, the real first-period highlight came as the Islanders successfully killed off a four-minute high-sticking call on defenseman Adam Pelech — one of their top penalty-killers — on Travis Konecny at 12:01. The Islanders, 20-for-21 on the penalty kill over 11 games, allowed only one shot.

Roy also got a save when he successfully challenged that Morgan Frost interfered with Sorokin on Matvei Michkov’s apparent goal at 14:05.

The Islanders then scored twice in the second period.

Simon Holmstrom, with his third goal in the last two games and 10th in his last 20, lifted a wrister from the slot to open the scoring at 10:02. Rookie Marc Gatcomb, converting Kyle MacLean’s feed off the rush, notched his first career point in his seventh NHL game at 17:08.

“You think about that moment your whole life,” Gatcomb said. “So when it happens, it’s pretty surreal. It’s pretty special.”

Notes & quotes: Rookie defenseman Isaiah George did not play a shift after 6:58 of the second period . . . The Flyers’ John Tortorella, 66, was behind the bench for his 1,600th game, becoming the first U.S.-born coach and seventh in NHL history to reach that milestone . . . TV cameras caught Tortorella and Michkov engaged in an angry discussion after Holmstrom’s goal ... The Flyers (23-24-6) dropped to 1-8-1 in the second nights of back-to-backs.

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