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Flyers aim to extend home dominance of Islanders

Feb 24, 2011 - 4:03 PM (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time since December when they host the New York Islanders in tonight's Atlantic Division clash at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers lead the Eastern Conference with 84 points, but have lost two of their last three contests, including Tuesday's 3-2 overtime setback against visiting Phoenix.

However, Philadelphia hasn't suffered consecutive defeats since losing to Florida and Vancouver on Dec. 20 and 28, respectively. Since that time the Flyers have put together a 17-6-1 record and are also sporting a 6-3-1 mark in February.

The Flyers have also dominated the Islanders in recent years and New York will try to end an 11-game road losing streak against Philly. New York has lost all three meetings against the Flyers this season and has dropped 18 of 19 overall in the series.

The Isles, who are 11-17-3 as the visiting team this season, last won in Philadelphia on April 7, 2007.

Philadelphia was dealt the overtime loss to the Coyotes after Shane Doan scored a power-play goal 2:41 into overtime. Doan's goal came after Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen was called for hooking. Philadelphia defenseman Andrej Meszaros also lost his stick during the 4-on-3 situation, leaving Doan plenty of space to fire a one-timer into the net.

Ville Leino and Claude Giroux each had a goal for the Flyers, who had won six of eight coming into the game. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots in defeat.

"They have a good team and are really fast," said Philadelphia forward Mike Richards. "I thought the pace of play was good tonight. We played well; we had a lot of chances. They were very opportunistic and they got the last shot."

It's uncertain if Bobrovsky or Brian Boucher will get the start in net tonight for Philly. Boucher has been bothered by a stinger, but was able to serve as the backup on Tuesday and could get the call tonight.

The Flyers enter tonight's game with injury issues at the back end, losing a defenseman in each of the last two games. Sean O'Donnell suffered a knee injury Sunday against the Rangers and is expected to miss 1-to-2 weeks. Oskars Bartulis sustained a shoulder injury in Tuesday's loss and is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on Wednesday.

Bartulis was injured on a hit by Phoenix forward Scottie Upshall. Upshall, a former Flyer, was suspended two games by the league for the hit, which did result in a minor penalty for boarding.

The Islanders had a two-game win streak halted Tuesday evening, as they were dealt a 2-1 regulation loss in Toronto. Phil Kessel scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to lift the home team to the win.

Matt Moulson scored for the sixth time in his last three games, but it wasn't enough to give the Islanders a third consecutive win. Al Montoya stopped 23 shots in the setback.

"We needed that one bounce to go our way," Montoya said. "The puck wasn't going in the net for us tonight. I knew I was going to have to shut the door, and they came down and they got a good break."

The Islanders also had a three-game road winning streak halted with Tuesday's setback.

New York is currently last in the Atlantic Division and is also 12 points out of a playoff spot in the East.