Game 56: Flyers at Islanders

Philadelphia Flyers: 30-20-5, 65 points
New York Islanders: 24-25-7, 55 points

Antero Niittymaki v. Rick DiPietro

The Flyers play their third straight game against a divisional opponent, as they travel up to Long Island to take on the Islanders tonight. They're currently on a three game skid, but the Islanders are struggling too. They've beaten the Isles every meeting so far this season, so it's a good opportunity to get the season back on track.

After Biron started both weekend games in a back to back set, Antero Niittymaki will get the start. Martin Biron has a nice track record against New York in his career, but he's started the last three and didn't play particularly well in two of them.

One huge key for the Flyers to skate away with a victory tonight is simply working hard along the boards. New York may be the worst team in the division and winless in their last seven, but they're a scrappy team. The Flyers have more talent, but the Islanders always work hard and make things difficult. The Flyers will need to win the battles in the corners and play physical to beat them tonight.

Everyone has said it a lot, but I'll say it again here. The Penalty Kill needs to be improved tenfold. I can't figure out why it's been such a huge problem this year. The PK was a strength on last year's garbage team, and there's no reason for it to have gotten so much worse. We have some defensively responsible forwards, and we have some strong defensemen that can also block shots. I guess it just comes down to execution and getting the puck out of the zone when you can. They allowed 3 PP goals over the weekend, and that is way too many for a team that has a legit shot at the Cup.

Bill Meltzer's preview and scratches:

Simon Gagne
Braydon Coburn
Scottie Upshall
Rory Fitzpatrick
Mike Rathje

To take Gagne's place on the roster while he's out, the Flyers called up Kyle Greentree from the Phantoms. He's a big, physical player with a nice shootout move. If there's a game that comes down to a shootout, I hope the coaches have enough confidence to use him. We need all the help we can get in the shootout.

Eklund says Forsberg will make a decision in the next 24 hours. Expect a decision by the end of February.

I don't see why a lot of fans think the sky is falling and the season is over. Gagne is a great player, when healthy. He hasn't been healthy all season. Since he came back in his recent stint, he clearly hasn't been right. He has great skills and he's shown that in the past, but that hasn't been there this year. The Flyers have the scoring depth to overcome this loss, and they've shown it this season.