NHL's hottest team looks to keep winning, some bad blood between rivals, and playoff points on the line.
The Islanders are heading into Philly tonight with the best record in the NHL over their last 10 games. They have gone 8-2-0 during this run, winning five straight games. The Flyers have gone 6-3-1 in the same span of games, but lost to the Islanders last time out 3-1 on Long Island. This is the third meeting in the last three weeks for the two clubs, which may look to get heated off the drop of the puck. The first meeting this month, a 5-3 Flyers win, saw Isles winger Max Tysplakov catch forward Ryan Poehling with his head down in the Islanders zone. After review, there was deemed no penalty on the play, thus putting a target on Tysplakov for the remainder of the game. He was later suspended by the NHL for three games, so wasn't present when the two teams played again the following week. Might be a night where Isles best deterrent, Matt Martin, gets a skate in alongside Tysplakov on the fourth line. The Islanders have a 22-20-7 record for 51 points going into tonight's proverbial 4-point game. The Flyers are 23-23-6, sitting just one point ahead of the Isles in the standings and having played three more tilts.

Islanders need to keep racking up points before 4 Nations Tourney, newest additions settling in and playing smart is key for this team to keep advancing up the playoff ladder.
With only six games remaining prior to the NHL shutting down for two weeks for the 4 Nations Tournament, the Islanders need to garner as many points as possible. Five of the six games are against excellent teams that already have playoff spots: Flyers tonight, then facing off against Tampa, Florida, Vegas, Winnipeg and Minnesota with only one home game in between the five February dates. This will be a great test for NYI's coach Patrick Roy to gauge just how good this team can be and if the chemistry can continue. The break in the season will also give many players a chance to recover from injuries and for some to improve their play. The two players that come to mind are Anthony Duclair and Isaiah George. Duclair has been almost a nonfactor most nights, as many have speculated that he rushed back from injury to rejoin the team after being on IR. George has struggled in the defensive zone and with turnovers, where hopefully the time off will allow him to focus on these areas. Islanders' newest players, Tony DeAngelo and Scott Perunovich are looking right at home, so much so that Perunovich ended up getting a haircut, thanks to GM Lou Lamoriello's "no long hair" (or facial hair for that matter) policy for all of his teams. Over this stretch of wins, the Islanders have been playing hard, fast and smart and they need to maintain the momentum by limiting turnovers, spending more time in the offensive zone and continuing to work on their special teams. They have improved playing with a lead following the horrendous start of the season where no lead was considered safe.
Bottom Line: Isles will win if they stay focused against Philly tonight.

While the Flyers may have themselves a great mascot in Gritty, the NY Islanders need to leave the clowning around in the stands to a professional. There is no doubt that a John Tortorella-coached team will want some sort of retribution on Maxime Tysplakov for his hit on Poehling earlier this season, but the Islanders need to not let it get the best of them. Maybe Coaches Roy and Tortorella should do the smart thing and just send out Matt Martin and the tough-guy-of-choice for the Flyers on the opening puck drop and let the boys get it out of their systems. Tysplakov showed great restraint and professionalism in the first game by not letting Philly get in his kitchen and hopefully the same holds true tonight. Let Philly take dumb penalties all night, but if a line is crossed, then retaliation should be swift. As the saying goes, don't start no, um, business...there won't be none.