GAME PREVIEW (9:30 AM EDT)
Looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Philadelphia Flyers (2-7-0) head to Uniondale, NY, to take on the New York Islanders (4-3-3). Game time is 7:00 p.m. eastern and the match will be televised locally on CSN Philly and on MSG Plus in the New York metropolitan area.
This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The next one will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Wells Fargo Center.
Last season, after the Flyers laid an embarrassing 7-0 shellacking on the Islanders on a President's Day matinee game, the Islanders got the better of the remaining season series. The much-improved Islanders made the playoffs last season and are no longer a doormat for the Flyers to walk over as they please.
Nevertheless, the Flyers bring to tonight's game a record of 27-3-2 in their last 32 games against the Islanders. That includes a 14-2-0 mark in the last 16 games in Long Island and 7-1-0 in the most recent eight games.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
It wasn't always pretty and it wasn't the offensive breakout they were seeking, but the Flyers were glad to take two points and many defensive and goaltending positives away from Thursday's 2-1 home win over the Rangers. Matt Read recorded his first two points of the season on a shorthanded goal and an assist on defenseman Braydon Coburn's game winning tally. Steve Mason was once again outstanding in goal.
Tonight, Scott Hartnell makes his return to the lineup after missing four-plus games with a torso injury. He is still looking for his first point of the season. Hartnell will play left wing on Brayden Schenn's line, as head coach Craig Berube continues to experiment with Vincent Lecavalier on right wing of Claude Giroux's line with Michael Raffl on the left side.
Hartnell's return from Injured Reserve necessitated a roster move yesterday. The Flyers sent Tye McGinn -- still the club's top goal scorer up to this point with three tallies -- down to Adirondack. He was sent down rather than Raffl because Berube believes that Raffl is the better skater and the better two-way hockey player despite not having a point yet in his rookie NHL season. McGinn played last night in the Phantom's 4-0 loss.
Last season's President's Day massacre on the Island was a breakout game for Flyers team captain Claude Giroux. He came into the game dragging a seven-game goalless drought (and one goal in the previous 14) with nine pointless game in 14 and an unsightly minus-seven in the five most recent games. He left the Island with two goals and an assist, marking the start of a hot streak of four goals and 12 points in six games.
Will history repeat itself this season? It might. Giroux, who is still looking for his first goal of the 2013-14 season, did not record a point in Thursday's game. However, he hit the goal post (for at least the third time in the last five games) on a shot that beat the goaltender. He also had a streak of assists in three straight games before Thursday's game.
Apart from Giroux and Hartnell, the Flyers are still looking for Voracek, Sean Couturier, Kimmo Timonen and former Islanders captain Mark Streit to record their respective first goals of the young season.
ISLANDERS OUTLOOK
The Islanders are playing the second half of back-to-back games and are coming off an emotionally exhilarating but physically draining 4-3 road win in Pittsburgh last night.
The Isles trailed 2-1 after two periods and 3-2 with under seven minutes remaining in regulation before rallying for a pair of late goals to win the game against a Penguins team that had entered the night as the best third-period team in the NHL. They also did it in a game where John Tavares was contained to one assist.
Last night, Evgeni Nabokov was peppered with 42 shots on a night where his own squad managed a more modest 25 against Penguins backup Jeff Zatkoff. The Islanders received only one power play on the night (to five for the Pens) but made it count as Matt Moulson opened the scoring in the first period. In the third period, Frans Nielsen (three-point game) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard knotted the game at 2-2 and 3-3 respectively. Josh Bailey capped off the comeback victory with the game-winner on his fourth goal of the season.
Defenseman Travis Hamonic ended up logging a massive 30:21 of ice time against the Penguins last night, being used on every other shift in crunch time. Compatriot Andrew McDonald racked up 27:54 worth of ice time.
It remains to be seen tonight whether there will be any fatigue factor for the Islanders after last night's stirring win against the top team in the Metropolitan Division. On paper at least, the Flyers may have the energy advantage as a team that has played just one game in the last eight nights.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
18 Adam Hall - 25 Max Talbot - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 26 Erik Gustafsson
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
32 Mark Streit - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
ISLANDERS
26 Matt Moulson - 91 John Tavares - 21 Kyle Okposo
96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard - 51 Frans Nielsen - 12 Josh Bailey
40 Michael Grabner - 16 Peter Regin - 15 Cal Clutterbuck
17 Matt Martin - 53 Casey Cizikas - 13 Colin McDonald
3 Travis Hamonic - 47 Andrew MacDonald
14 Thomas Hickey - 7 Matt Carkner
46 Matt Donovan - 4 Radek Martinek
60 Kevin Poulin
[20 Evgeni Nabokov]
Scratches: Eric Boulton (healthy), Brock Nelsen (healthy), Brian Strait (upper-body, day-to-day), Lubomir Visnovsky (IR, concussion).
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