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Jets, Flyers tangle in south Philly

Oct 27, 2011 - 3:05 PM (Sports Network) - The Winnipeg Jets are going to get very familiar with each other over the next two weeks.

Still searching for their first road win of the season, the Jets start up a seven-game swing this evening against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Winnipeg has won just twice over its first eight games of the season and that includes an 0-3-1 mark on the road. The Jets sit last in the Southeast Division with five points and will play just two division games on this swing as they try to get out of the basement.

"It's big for us," defenseman Zach Bogosian said of the trek. "Obviously we're going to have a go against some good teams and we've got to start making some ground in the winning column. It would be a good time for our team to gel together. We're going to be gone a long time and we've just go to make sure we take it day by day."

After picking up their second victory of the season on Saturday over the Hurricanes, the Jets were edged out by the visiting Rangers by a 2-1 margin on Monday.

Nik Antropov had the lone goal for the Jets and Chris Mason made 15 saves, yielding a pair of goals while shorthanded. It was the fifth time this year that Winnipeg was held to two goals or fewer.

"We played a decent game, but when you look at games it becomes about the details and we have to get better at the details," said Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel. "I thought we could have won the game. I thought we generated a fair bit and ultimately the difference was one goal."

The Jets' road trip is spread out over 14 days and will likely feature the return of Jim Slater, who missed the last game with an upper-body injury but will travel with the club and is day-to-day.

The Flyers return home following last night's 5-1 setback in Montreal, the club's third loss in its last four games. Jaromir Jagr had the lone Philadelphia goal, his third in two games, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 23 saves.

Philadelphia lost for the first time on the road this year (3-1-0) and was outshot for the second time this season. Its 22 shots on the night were a season low.

"Those first couple of minutes they stepped up and played big time," said forward Scott Hartnell, who had an assist. "We just kind of sat back and were on our heels instead of being on our toes. It was just really frustrating. You can kind of sense it, you can feel the crowd was feeling it as well. We have to try and manage that and change it around."

Philadelphia was playing for the first time without captain Chris Pronger. The defenseman suffered an eye injury in Monday's win over Toronto that is expected to sideline him for the next few weeks.

The Flyers are 1-5-2 versus the Jets franchise since winning 14 straight games over the club.