Game of the Night: Isles/Flyers
Adam Malmut | Dec 08, 2009 | Comments 1
Islanders Face-Off against Philly and Laviolette
Tonight’s game of the night looks to be the New York Islanders(11-11-7) verses the Philadelphia Flyers(13-13-1) as Peter Laviolette looks to snag his first win as Flyers head coach.
In each of his two seasons with the Islanders, Laviolette led them to the playoffs after a long seven year drought. Now, as the new head coach in Philly, he will be looking to remedy the bad taste in Philly fans mouths from the previous two losses. In his Flyers debut, Laviolette led his team to a 8-2 drubbing at home delivered by the Washington Capitals. Oh yeah, and that little 3-1 loss last night in Montreal probably didn’t sit well either.
In Net (update): It looks like Ray Emery will miss six weeks as team officials say he will require abdominal surgery. Brian Boucher will likely start for the Flyers. Marty Biron will try and snuff out his former team for the Islanders.
Super-Witt: After his near death experience, Isles defenseman Brendan Witt will defy all odds and play tonight in Philadelphia despite being hit by a gold Yukon truck earlier in the day. As TSN reports, one witness claimed that “it was like seeing Clint Eastwood, but in hockey.” Even a non-hockey fan has to admire this type of toughness and commitment to team. There has been speculation that Witt has been playing injured even before his run-in with a motor vehicle, as he has been averaging close to 11 minutes in ice time per game.
At a Loss: While the Flyers are coming off a loss, so are the Islanders. One can argue that this is as close to a must-win as the Flyers have seen, but the Isles would like to gain even more than the two point lead they currently have over the Flyers in the standings. Alas, the Isles are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, whereas the Flyers are 2-8-0 in their last 10.
The last time the teams met, the Flyers beat the Islanders at home (2-1) on November 25, 2009.
The puck is set to drop at 7:05 est at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.
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Filed Under: New York Islanders • NHL • Philadelphia Flyers
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