Islanders at Flyers
The New York Islanders look to continue their ascent in the Metropolitan at the expense of a division rival Tuesday when they play the second contest of their three-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers. New York began its seven-game point streak (5-0-2) with a 3-1 home victory over Philadelphia on Nov. 25 and has won five of its last six visits to the Wells Fargo Center.
Kyle Okposo scored the go-ahead tally against the Flyers at the Barclays Center last month, but the Islanders failed to hold a two-goal advantage on Saturday as they opened their trek with a 3-2 overtime setback to Ottawa. Philadelphia also stumbled in its last outing as its season-high four-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday with a 4-1 setback to Columbus. Claude Giroux was held off the scoresheet after recording three goals and six assists in his previous six contests. The captain netted his team's lone goal in last month's meeting with the Islanders.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), TVA, CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (15-8-5): Jaroslav Halak yielded just one goal on 18 shots in last month's meeting to improve to 8-3-0 in his career versus Philadelphia. The 30-year-old has been snakebitten by a lack of offense on the road , losing five of six decisions (1-2-3) despite posting a rail-thin 1.95 goals-against average with a .923 save percentage. New York helped Halak by killing off 4-of-5 short-handed situations versus Philadelphia in the first meeting before thwarting all 16 ensuing power plays since then.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (11-11-5): Former Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Monday with Luke Schenn (ankle) and Mark Streit (lower body) sidelined by injury and fellow blue-liner Radko Gudas serving the final contest of a three-game suspension. MacDonald told reporters he tried to keep an open mind after being shuffled to the Phantoms prior to the NHL season. "A situation like that, you don't want to handle it with a bad attitude," said MacDonald, who is approximately 20 months removed from signing a six-year, $30 million contract.
OVERTIME
1. New York is 4-0-2 against fellow Metropolitan Division representatives.
2. Philadelphia C Brayden Schenn will play in his 300th career game on Tuesday.
3. The Islanders have scored a goal in 10 of their last 11 third periods.