FLYERS NEWS

The Flyers welcomed the New York Islanders to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked to make it 2 in a row after an easy win over the Mape Leafs in their last game. Coming in they had defeated the Islanders in 14 straight contests. A win would give them a Flyer's record 15 straight wins over the Isles. Early on though it looked like New York might deny the record. Goals by John Tavares, early in the 1st period, and Kyle Okposo late in the 2nd period, gave the Isles the early 2-0 edge. Then with about 8 minutes to play in the 2nd period, the Orange and Black went to work. With an assist from Danny Briere, Jeff Carter scored at that point in the 2nd period to cut it to 2-1. Early in the 3rd period Claude Giroux scored off the power play to knot it up at 2. Finally with a little over 6 minutes to play, Simon Gagne scored another power play goal, with an assist from Giroux, for a 3-2 lead. Micheal Leighton, who saved 23, then made sure it held up the rest of the way, to clinch the Flyers record breaking 15th straight win over the Isles.

It was a particularly gruesome win for the Orange and Black with James Van Reimsdyk, Lukas Krajicek and Dan Carcillo, all leaving the ice bloodied and beaten at one point in the 1st period. Fortunately, all three toughed it out and returned to the ice before the game was over. However, their absence early on, explains why the Flyers fell behind in this one in the first place. This was just 2nd win of the season for the Flyers, when trailing after 2 periods. They're going to need a few more of these, if they hope to reach the playoffs with a decent seeding. Ultimately, it was once again, perhaps not the Flyers best game, but they found a way to win, and that's really all that matters at this point. With the win ,the Flyers with 74 points overall now, remain 6th in the East, just 5 points behind 5th place Ottawa and 4th place New Jersey, and a comfortable 7 points clear of the 9th place Rangers.