Flyers Close Road Trip Versus Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers (7-9-1, 15 pts) will faceoff against the Pittsburgh Penguins (11-5, 22 pts) tonight as they close out their 6-game road trip. The Flyers have had a rough time on the road this season including during this trip. They are 3-8 on the road this season and 2-3 on this particular trip. Philadelphia went 1-3 in their first 4 games of this trip losing to Toronto, beating Winnipeg, then losing two ugly games in a row to New Jersey and Montreal.

Following the lackluster game against Montreal, Flyers captain Claude Giroux had enough. Giroux publicly called out his team and held a private meeting to address their (and his) lack of effort and dive to win. So on Monday, Giroux and the Flyers had something to prove as they came into New York to face the Islanders.

And all they did was hand the Islanders their worst home shutout ever, 7-0. Giroux held up his part as he got the team going by scoring 26 seconds into the game. The rest of the team would follow suit as they played their best complete hockey game of the season. They tied their season high scoring 7 goals while registering their first shutout; they also went a solid 2 for 4 on the man-advantage and a posted a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill. Giroux ended the game with 2 goals and an assist while 10 other Flyers registered at least 1 point.

Philadelphia will look to carry their momentum into Pittsburgh tonight as they try to turn this road trip from a disaster to an even record. The Flyers have had a lot of success against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Since the opening of their new building in 2010, the Penguins have lost 5 of 6 games to the Flyers allowing 23 goals against in the process.

The Penguins have had a very strong start to their season currently sitting in 1st in the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh has won their last 3 games and are 8-2 in their last 10.

Who to look out for:
The Penguins big 3: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal have accounted for 56 combined points in 16 games. Crosby leads his team in points and is second in the league with 24, while James Neal has the most goals for the Penguins and is also second in the league with 11 tallies.

The Flyers first line of Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Jake Voracek found great chemistry versus the Islanders on Monday. The new line combined for a total of 10 points, including Voracek's career high 4 assists in Monday night's game. Voracek leads the Flyers in points with 15 while Read leads the team in goals with 7.

Who's in Net:
Ilya Bryzgalov (7-7-1, 2.42 GAA), who earned his 30th career shutout against the Islanders will start in goal against Tomas Vokoun (3-2, 2.27 GAA).

Drop the Puck:
The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:30 PM.