The New York Islanders will be looking to avoid their seventh consecutive loss tonight, when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Islanders, who started off the season red-hot, are currently ice-cold and need a boost. Tonight's matchup against the Flyers should have everything the players need to get pumped up.
When the Flyers and Islanders met last Saturday in Philadelphia the clubs combined for 120 penalty minutes. The Atlantic Division rivals expect to renew the bad blood tonight when they Flyers visit the struggling Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
The Flyers enter this game playing their best hockey of the year, having won a season-high five straight contests. Philadelphia's latest victory came Thursday night over the other New York team, the Rangers, as the Orange and Black disposed of the visiting Blueshirts, 4-1.
Philly dismantled the Islanders, 6-1, last weekend and the lopsided score led to a physical game, especially in the third period. Most notably, Flyers forward Danny Briere was given a major for cross-checking New York's Frans Nielsen in the head late in the game. The incident resulted in a three-game suspension for Briere, who will serve the final portion of that sanction tonight.
The Flyers have just one loss in their last 17 games versus the Isles overall and have also won eight out of 10 on Long Island. New York did snap a seven- game home losing streak against Philly on April 1 of last season.
Philadelphia notched the 4-1 win over the Blueshirts on Thursday thanks in part to goals by former Rangers Blair Betts and Nikolay Zherdev. Mike Richards and Chris Pronger also supplied power-play tallies for the Flyers, who have won six of their last seven and are first in the Atlantic with 17 points.
(The Sports Network contributed to this report)