PREVIEW 8:45 AM EST
Over the course of their current two-game losing streak, the Flyers (11-6-3) have lost in regulation to the 13th and 14th place teams in the Eastern Conference. Tonight, they will take on the bottom-ranked team when they travel to the venerable Nassau Coliseum in Long Island to take on the New York Islanders (5-10-3). The game starts at 7:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcast locally on CSN Philly.
This is the first of six meetings between the teams this season. Last season, the Flyers swept the season series (by a combined 26-12 score) to continue their run of dominance over the Islanders. Overall, Philadelphia has won 21 of its last 22 games with the Isles.
Keep in mind, however, that the Flyers brought nearly as impressive of a recent won-loss record against the Carolina Hurricanes into Monday's game, and that did Philly no good. Once the puck drops, past records become meaningless and the next win must be earned anew. Penalty killing letdowns, undisciplined play and average goaltending were the Flyers' undoing in each of the last two games.
It was especially galling that the Flyers' PK was torched twice by Carolina's league-worst power play while Philly mostly had their regular starters on the ice. Injuries had little, if anything, to do with the outcome of that game.
Tonight, the Flyers expect to have Jaromir Jagr (groin pull) and Braydon Coburn (bruised kidney) back in the lineup. Chris Pronger (illness) remains out of the lineup, so rookie callup Marc-Andre Bourdon remains with the team in the absence of fellow rookie Erik Gustafsson (LTIR, wrist surgery).
On Monday's game, both James van Riemsdyk and red-hot rookie Matt Read stepped up to lead the team's (unsuccessful) comeback bid. The Flyers needed more that night from Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen and Danny Briere in particular.
The Canes game was just one of those nights for Giroux and Timonen, who have both been outstanding all season. Briere, however, has not been very good -- with the exception of perhaps two games -- since returning from a rib injury suffered last month.
In his last 6 games, Danny has just one goal and one assist. He also has only one multi-point game (a pair of assists in the 9-2 rout of Columbus) since his return to the lineup. Tonight would be a good opportunity for him to back on track, as Briere has had good career success (15 goals, 33 points in 35 games) against the Islanders.
New York enters this game with low confidence and very little recent success. The club has lost six of its last seven games and has been shut out in each of its last two games. The Bruins steamrolled the Isles, 6-0, and then the Penguins crushed them, 5-0, in the return of Sidney Crosby on Monday.
It's hard to find many positives about the Islanders' play so far this season. The club's offense has been anemic, averaging just 1.94 goals per game. The defense remains porous, yielding 3.33 goals per game.
John Tavares (team leading 8 goals, 16 points) got off to a tremendous start but has only has lit the lamp twice in the last 12 games. He has had sporadic success (4 goals, 9 points in 12 games) in his still-young NHL career to date. Meanwhile 2010-11 rookie revelation Michael Grabner (5 goals, 7 points) stumbled out of the gates in October, appeared to coming around in early November but has slumped again recently (0 points in his last four games).
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
JVR - Briere - Simmonds
Read - Talbot - Voracek
Nodl/Zolniercyz - Couturier - Rinaldo
Timonen - Coburn
Carle - Bourdon
Lilja - Meszaros
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
ISLANDERS
Moulson - Tavares - Grabner
Rolston - Nielsen - Parenteau
Ullstrom - Reasoner - Okposo
Pandolfo - Bailey - Martin
Streit - Staois
MacDonald - Hamonic
Mottau - Jurcina
DiPietro
[Nilsson]
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This week's
Across the Pond at NHL.com updates the whereabouts of two former Flyers: Janne Niinimaa and Pavel Brendl. Both players signed this week to play for a Swiss team, the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
Rapperswil has been sort of a Swiss league version the Islanders, frequently finishing near the bottom of the league standings in recent years. The club is trying to emerge from a month-long swoon that have seen the team lose seven in a row and nine of their last 10 games, dropping from fifth place to last in the 14-team league.
The anemic Lakers offense has mustered a league-worst 43 goals to date (1.72 per game). The second-worst offensive team in the league, eighth-place EHC Biel, has scored 50 in one fewer game. Meanwhile, the Lakers have also allowed a league-worst 85 goals (3.27 per game).
As a result of their inability to put pucks in the net, the Lakers will look to the 31-year-old Brendl and 36-year-old Niinimaa (who played well in Sweden each of the last two years but is plagued by chronic back problems) to generate some instant offense.
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