UPDATE 1:45 PM EST
Jack Capuano's Islanders will use the same lineup tonight that they featured in the 3-0 shutout of Washington on Tuesday. That means Dylan Reese is in and Steve Staios is a healthy scratch.
PREVIEW 6:45 AM EST
With three games remaining until the All-Star break, the Philadelphia Flyers (27-13-4) will look to continue their incredible run of success against the New York Islanders (17-21-6). Tonight's game at the Wells Fargo Center starts at 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.
This is the third of six meetings between the teams this season, and the first of three in Philadelphia. The Flyers won the first two games in Long Island, but it wasn't easy. The Islanders outplayed the Flyers in both games and deserved to win at least one of them. Entering tonight, Philadelphia has won eight in a row and 23 of the last 24 with the Islanders, including each of the last 11 meetings in Philly.
The big difference in the season series so far has been the goaltending. The Flyers received stellar goaltending in both games from Sergei Bobrovsky (relieving Ilya Bryzgalov after the first period of the initial meeting and starting the last game). Meanwhile, the Islanders got poor goaltending from Rick DiPietro in the first game and Evgeni Nabokov allowed one awful goal in the last game.
The Flyers are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, and 5-2-0 since the Winter Classic. The team is coming off one of its most complete wins of the stretch; a 5-1 win on Tuesday against the reeling Minnesota Wild.
In that game, Sean Couturier notched a shorthanded goal to run his consecutive game goal-scoring streak to five. Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell scored power play goals, and Braydon Coburn and Jakub Voracek tallied at even strength.
The Islanders are likewise 6-4-0 over their last 10 games, and coming off one of their best efforts of the season. On Tuesday, the Islanders bottled up the Washington Capitals and skated off with a 3-0 road victory. In that tilt, Nabokov made 17 saves for the shutout, while PA Parenteau had his first two-goal NHL game and John Tavares scored his 17th goal of the season.
The biggest difference between the Flyers and Islanders over the course of this season has been the superior depth of Philadelphia evident during five-on-five play. On special teams, they've actually been remarkably similar. Both teams have connected on 19.4 percent of their power plays, and the Islanders have actually been slightly superior on the penalty kill (83.7 percent to 82.4 percent).
A subplot to tonight's game is whether the Flyers will go after New York's Steve Staios at some point early in the game (assuming Staios is in the starting lineup for Jack Capuano's team). Philadelphia was angered by an apparent elbow to the head that Staois threw on Max Talbot late in last week's game.
With they Flyers protecting a one-goal lead in the waning minutes of the third period, they did not respond physically at the time. Nevertheless, there were was a lot of anger over the play -- which was neither penalized nor resulted in a fine or suspension from the NHL due to "inconclusive video evidence" and the fact that Talbot was OK afterwards -- and especially for Staios' smirking demeanor on the bench afterwards as he traded barbs with the Philadelphia bench.
Dylan Reese was in the lineup over Staois in Tuesday's win over the Capitals, so the Flyers may not get their chance at Staios tonight if Capuano goes with the same lineup that shut out Washington.
On the injury front, the Flyers remain without Chris Pronger (LTIR, lost for season and playoffs due to concussion-related issues) and James van Riemsdyk (concussion). Agitating forward Zac Rinaldo is day-to-day with a neck problem. New York is without goalie Rick DiPietro (LTIR, sports hernia surgery), defenseman Mike Mottau (concussion) and center Marty Reasoner (broken thumb).
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Talbot - Briere - Voracek
Read - Schenn - Simmonds
Zolnierczyk - Couturier - Shelley
Timonen - Coburn
Carle - Bourdon
Gustafsson - Meszaros
Bobrovsky
[Bryzgalov]
ISLANDERS
Moulson - Tavares - Okposo
Grabner - Nielsen - Parenteau
Rolston - Bailey - Martin
Niederreiter - Pandolfo - Wallace
Streit - Jurcina
MacDonald - Hamonic
Eaton - Reese
Nabokov
[Montoya]
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