Richards, Carter, Giroux score 2; Flyers snap skid

Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux scored two goals apiece, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Islanders 6-2 on Tuesday night for their first win under new coach Peter Laviolette.

Brian Boucher, taking over No. 1 goalie duties from injured Ray Emery, made 22 saves for the Flyers, who broke a five-game losing streak. Philadelphia has won 12 in a row and 15 of 16 against the Islanders, dating to the 2007-08 season.

The Flyers had dropped two consecutive games — including an 8-2 home loss to Washington on Saturday — after Laviolette replaced fired coach John Stevens on Friday.

Islanders rookie John Tavares scored both goals for New York, which dropped its second straight and slipped into a last-place tie with the Flyers in the Atlantic Division.

Richards' first goal came on a power play, and snapped a five-game, 0 for 19 stretch with the man advantage for the Flyers. Richards deflected Kimmo Timonen's slap shot past goalie Martin Biron, who spent the previous three seasons with Philadelphia.

Just 6 minutes later, Richards scored the first short-handed goal allowed by the Islanders this season. The Flyers captain stripped the puck from defenseman Mark Streit and flicked it past Biron's stick side during a breakaway.

Carter netted the next two goals to push the Flyers' lead to 4-0. Danny Briere fed him a pass on the left goal line, and Carter angled a wrist shot past Biron. His second goal came on a rebound in front of a crowded net.

Tavares tried to rally the Islanders with a pair of power-play goals that cut New York's deficit in half. His first was scored at 10:52. He made it 4-2 with his 13th this season, scored at 14:55.

Philadelphia nearly let New York back in it by taking five penalties in the second period. The Flyers pushed their lead to 5-2 on Giroux's first of the night with 2:31 left in the second.

The Flyers (14-13-1) were 12-5 on Nov. 18, but their slump led to Stevens' dismissal. Philadelphia held a 37-24 shots advantage, one night after they had a 15-13 edge at Montreal in a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens.

NOTES: Boucher is expected to get the bulk of the work in goal for the Flyers while Emery his out. Emery will have surgery Wednesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle. ... Islanders D Brendan Witt was in the lineup despite being hit by a car while crossing a Philadelphia street in the morning. ... Laviolette's first NHL head coaching job was with the Islanders from 2001-03.