Philadelphia Flyers aim for another victory over New York Islanders at home-ice – NHL Preview
Although New York Islanders were successful in their last road trip, the current opponents, Philadelphia Flyers, will not surrender easily as the latter is set to dominate the visitors at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday, January 19, 2012.
The Flyers have won their last three home games, and no wonders they are going to give tough time to the Islanders, who, despite a victory in the last game, have failed to deliver an impressive performance in the National Hockey League (NHL) season 2011-2012.
For Islanders, P.A. Parenteau had a first two-goal game, while their goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, completed a shutout after making 17 saves to overcome the lowly Washington Capitals (3-0).
The Islanders are ranked far below than the Flyers in the NHL Eastern Conference ranking table.
After playing 44 games in the season, they have 40 points, which are not enough to take them to the playoffs.
The desperation in the Islanders’ camp can be measured considering the statement Parenteau gave after the last victory.
"We know we're playing for our season right now, being 10 points back of a playoff spot," he remarked. "This is a big stretch for us and I think all the boys in this locker room are aware of that. That's why we came out swinging tonight and were ready to
go. We know if we want to stay in the hunt we have to put some wins together."
On the other hand, the Flyers’ stats are much better than the Islanders.
The Flyers have won five of their last eight games, and after playing 44 games, they have 58 points, which have kept them in the playoff hunt.
They comprehensively defeated Minnesota Wild (5-1) in their last game with their rookie, Sean Couturier, scoring another goal.
The 19-year-old rookie has scored consecutively in his last five games, and the Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette is glad to have Sean in his team.
“He's never on the wrong side of the puck. His goals have been impressive," the coach said of Sean.
The Flyers’ home-ice advantage will definitely help them, but it will create more troubles for the Islanders as the latter are yet to beat the Flyers on their home-ice since 2007.
Tags: