Ruslan Fedotenko added an empty-net goal for the Flyers, who began the day in 14th in the Eastern Conference but only six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Boston, meanwhile, entered with the third-most points in the conference (46).

The trade deadline can’t arrive soon enough for the Bruins, who lost for the fifth time in seven games after an uninspired stumble through Philly, writes Joe McDonald. Story

“That was a huge two points for us and hopefully from here we can play with confidence like we did tonight and keep on the same tracks and keep going,” Read said. “It’s been kind of a tough season for us and tonight is a momentum builder. With the remaining games, if we keep playing like that, who knows? We just have to keep winning and try to make a playoff run.”

With just 14 games left, Philadelphia is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007. That made Saturday’s performance against the loaded Bruins somewhat perplexing for the Flyers.

“You feel good about it, but then you’re frustrated too because that’s an upper-echelon team in our league and you ask yourselves, ‘Why don’t you do it more often? Why doesn’t it happen more often?'” Knuble said. “You make the commitment right from the start and everybody was on board today.”

Nathan Horton scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 2-4-1 in their last seven games. They had won four in a row against the Flyers and were unbeaten in their previous 10 trips to Philadelphia (9-0-1).

“We know we have to get better,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 19 saves. “We haven’t played that bad, but it’s uncharacteristic mistakes. And it’s something we need to get rid of.

“It happens but then again … we know we need to get better in all areas. It’s weird because we’re not playing awful and we’re losing games, but we know it’s not good enough.”

Coach Claude Julien said the Bruins aren’t playing with any consistency.

“You get some spurts where you’re seeing some good things, but then the next line going up can’t follow up,” he said. “So we are not able to sustain much right now. The biggest challenge is every game we have one line that’s scoring and the other three don’t do a thing. Then it’s a different line another game and then the other three don’t do it. We can’t win hockey games with just relying on one line per night producing for us.”

The Flyers opened the scoring with their fifth consecutive successful power play, this one coming against the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit (91.2 percent). Knuble one-timed Brayden Schenn’s pass from behind the net and beat Rask low and on the glove side to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first period.

“We’ve been keeping it simple, moving the puck when we’re supposed to,” Read said of the power-play success. “It’s hard work and you have to outwork the penalty killers, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Philadelphia tacked on another goal in the second when Read scored 3:18 into the period. Jakub Voracek found a streaking Read alone between the circles. Read settled the pass, then ripped a slap shot past Rask’s glove side.

“It was one of those changeups,” Rask said. “It was rolling when he shot it. I don’t think I was perfectly positioned.”

The two-goal deficit was indicative of Boston’s recent struggles.

“We fell behind and that’s been happening to us too much lately,” Rask said. “We just can’t bear down and get that lead. … Just go out there and play our game. They were good goals but when we’re on top of our game, we don’t necessarily give up those chances. Or if we do, I save them.”

The Flyers continued to get strong goaltending from Bryzgalov in the second period. His best save came with just more than eight minutes remaining in the period when he sprawled to his left to stop Patrice Bergeron’s diving wraparound try.

Read nearly made it 3-0 about 30 seconds after Bryzgalov’s save, but his breakaway attempt caromed off the right post.

Boston cut the deficit to 2-1 on Horton’s 10th goal of the season 5 minutes into the third. Dennis Seidenberg took the initial shot from the point and it eventually bounced over to a wide-open Horton, who deposited the puck into the empty net.

“Yeah I mean there was already somebody in front that created the screen, but he jumped on that loose puck,” Julien said of Horton. “Absolutely I think we need more of that. Right now, like I said, we’re very average in all areas. Average and not even playing Bruins hockey. Like I said when you only go in spurts, you can’t expect to win.”

Boston went 0 for 2 on the power play and has scored once in its last 16 chances with the man advantage.

Game notes

Before the game, the Flyers acquired defenseman Kent Huskins from Detroit for a conditional 2014 draft pick. Huskins, in his seventh NHL season, was scoreless in 11 games for the Red Wings this season. … Philadelphia defenseman Oliver Lauridsen made his NHL debut. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder has appeared in 59 games for the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL this season, with a goal, five assists and 77 penalty minutes. … Before the game, Philadelphia unveiled a statue of Flyers greats Bob Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the Stanley Cup to commemorate the club’s back-to-back championships in 1974-75.

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Gagne spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Flyers, but won his first Stanley Cup title last season in Los Angeles after a late-playoff return from a concussion. He hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games this season for the Kings, who decided the veteran didn’t fit in coach Darryl Sutter’s system.

Before Gagne even got up the nerve to ask for a trade, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi sent him back to Philadelphia.

“They just did it on their own,” Gagne said. “It just shows you the class those guys have. Even if it’s hard getting traded in the middle of the season, going to Philly — and they told me it was the best place for me to go — they’re really gentlemen to do that to me this year.”

Los Angeles will get a third-round pick if Philadelphia makes the playoffs or a fourth-round pick if the Flyers miss the postseason.

Gagne had 259 goals and 524 points in his decade with the Flyers, who traded him to Tampa Bay in July 2010 partly to get under the salary cap. The Kings signed him a year later, but Gagne has scored just 24 goals in 108 games since leaving Philadelphia.

“This is a good player that I’ve known a long time, and I know that if he would have wanted to go anywhere, that would be the place he wanted to go,” said Lombardi, a former Flyers scout. “Given that we had to do this, if we can, I would certainly put him someplace I know he’d be happy.”

Gagne scored a career-high 47 goals during the 2005-06 season while playing mostly on a line with Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble, who re-signed with Philadelphia last month. Before the lockout last July, the Flyers re-signed Ruslan Fedotenko, who began his career alongside Gagne with the Flyers more than a decade ago.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren spoke with Lombardi a few days ago about Gagne, but suddenly had urgency to add front-line depth. Matt Read is sidelined for six weeks with torn rib cage muscles, and Tye McGinn will be out for a few weeks after breaking an orbital bone in a fight with Toronto’s Matt Brown on Monday night.

“He improves our depth up front automatically,” said Holmgren, who traded Gagne three years ago. “He is a good two-way player that can skate. … Coaches have watched tape of him playing, so we feel comfortable that he is fine. He seems excited to be coming back, and looks forward to an opportunity to play and help us.”

The seven-time 20-goal scorer was sidelined for more than five months of his first season in Los Angeles with his latest concussion, but returned to action in the Stanley Cup finals. He played four games while winning his first NHL championship, but underwent neck surgery five days after raising the Cup for the first time.

Gagne’s ice time was down sharply this season, and he had been a healthy scratch recently for the Kings (9-6-2), who have won four straight after a slow start. Gagne had five assists this season, but lost playing time recently to fellow veteran Dustin Penner.

Gagne only recently pulled up some of his Philly roots. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has been renting Gagne’s old house in Philadelphia’s New Jersey suburbs for the past 2½ years, but Gagne recently sold the house, with the closing scheduled for March 15.

While Los Angeles started clicking after a slow start, Philadelphia is off to just a 9-11-1 start despite scoring 60 goals, third in the Eastern Conference.

Gagne has a $3.5 million salary for the season and will be a free agent this summer, but Holmgren said the Flyers could afford him after losing players to injury.

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The new captain met with his club for a few minutes Saturday and told his teammates the effort and production weren’t good enough from anyone — including himself.

The message wasn’t kept behind closed doors. Giroux made a public declaration that things had to change quickly. In his first chance to put his words into action, Giroux led by brilliant example.

Giroux scored 26 seconds into Monday’s matinee against the New York Islanders, and added a goal and assist in the second period of the Flyers’ 7-0 victory.

Giroux combined with linemates Matt Read and Jakub Voracek for three goals and 10 points as Philadelphia (7-9-1) earned just its third road win in 12 away games this season.

“We played with attitude. High intensity, and played as a team,” Giroux said. “That’s how we have to play — a full 60 minutes. We didn’t let down and we wanted to win. I think it showed.”

Read had a goal and two assists, and Voracek — added to the line late in Saturday’s loss — had a career-high four assists. Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first shutout of the season and 30th in the NHL.

The Flyers blocked 23 shots in front of him.

Giroux led from the opening shift that included a hit on Islanders star John Tavares before starting the scoring. He hadn’t scored in seven games, and netted only one goal in 14 after posting a goal in each of Philadelphia’s first two games.

“When you’re a young guy and you become captain, it’s a pretty heavy weight sometimes,” veteran forward Mike Knuble said. “A lot of the extra things that go along with being captain maybe drag you down a little bit and maybe make you feel like you’re playing with a lot on your back.

“You could tell that he got something out of his system and was playing like the point-per-game guy that he is.”

Zac Rinaldo scored his first of the season, and third of his NHL career, to make it 5-0 at 3:31 of the third. Danny Briere scored twice in the final period — first on a power play with 9:33 left and then with 2:14 remaining.

“Everybody took a good hard look in the mirror,” Briere said. “(The meeting) wasn’t very long, but it was to the point, saying that we need everybody to get into the game. What he did the last few years for this team, I think he earned a lot of respect throughout the room.

“He could’ve done the same thing without being captain and I think everybody would’ve responded the same way.”

In between Giroux’s goals, Read and Brayden Schenn scored for the Flyers, who had lost three of the first four on a six-game trip that ends Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

“You’d like to bottle it up and carry it right into Pitt,” coach Peter Laviolette said.

Evgeni Nabokov played better than his statistics showed and made 18 saves for New York (6-8-1). He kept the Islanders in it during the first period that was dominated by Philadelphia.

“Our battle level was nowhere near where it had to be,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “We have to find better ways to find it. We have to generate more.

“Nabby has been there for us. I didn’t think of taking him out.”

The Flyers connected just 15 seconds into the second when Read scored his seventh, putting in a rebound of Giroux’s shot. Schenn scored a power-play goal at 7:57, and Giroux connected again with 5:15 left.

Philadelphia scored three times on just six second-period shots.

The Islanders couldn’t sustain momentum generated by wins over the rival New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils in their previous two games following a five-game losing streak. While the Flyers will soon be heading home, the Islanders begin a three-game trip at Ottawa on Tuesday.

“We have to just put this behind us,” Islanders captain Mark Streit said. “We were terrible start to finish. This was not acceptable in any way. We have a chance to get a good night’s sleep and come out strong (Tuesday).”

The Islanders had been riding a hot power-play unit that scored on seven of 12 chances the previous three games, but it failed them during a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted a full two minutes in the first and generated only one shot.

“That was a huge momentum swing on our part,” Briere said.

Game notes

It was Philadelphia’s most lopsided regular-season shutout win since topping Atlanta 7-0 on Oct. 28, 2008. … The Flyers have scored 14 goals in road wins over the Islanders and Florida this season, but have netted only 15 in their other nine road games. … The Flyers have gone six consecutive games without allowing a power-play goal (21-for-21). They have killed 38 of 40 over 10 games. … Tavares was chosen as the NHL’s first star of past week after scoring five goals and adding two assists in three games. … Islanders D Brian Strait injured his left ankle during the second period when he appeared to catch his skate in the ice without being hit and crashed into the boards. After the game, the team learned Strait had fractured his left ankle and he was placed on the injured list. The Islanders activated defenseman Radek Martinek from the injured list. … Rinaldo hadn’t scored since March 15, 2012, also against the Islanders.

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