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Islanders look to continue playoff push, end road woes

Mar 24, 2007 - 2:13 PM NY Islanders (35-27-11) at Philadelphia (20-43-11) 1:00 pm EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - Fighting for the playoffs, the New York Islanders hope to end their road woes against one of the worst teams in the NHL.

The Islanders will look to pick up a rare road win against the lowly Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

New York is one point behind Carolina and Montreal for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. However, the Islanders have struggled on the road, going 0-3-2 in their last five games.

New York plays four of its final nine games on the road, but two are against the struggling Flyers, who own a league-worst 8-20-7 record at home. However, two of those wins have come against the Islanders.

Struggling recently, New York had lost four in a row overall but snapped the skid with a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. Franchise-goaltender Rick DiPietro made 26 saves.

The Islanders returned home after going 0-3-1 on their four-game road trip. DiPietro missed nearly three full contests on the trek after receiving a knee to the head in a 5-3 loss to Montreal on March 13.

Philadelphia may have one of their star players returning on Saturday as well. According to the Delaware County Times, leading scorer Simon Gagne has practiced with the team and may return after missing the last six contests with a hip flexor strain.

The Flyers were blanked by the New York Rangers, 5-0, on Wednesday. Antero Niittymaki made 29 saves for Philadelphia, which has lost three in a row and five of six.

Despite dropping the two games at the Wachovia Center, the Islanders are 4-2-0 against the Flyers this season.