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Islanders aim for fourth straight home win

Nov 30, 2006 - 1:33 PM Philadelphia (7-15-3) at NY Islanders (12-8-3) 7:30 pm EST

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) - Home ice is supposed to provide an advantage. The New York Islanders are finding that to be quite true.

With one of the top home records in the Eastern Conference, the Islanders look to extend their winning streak at Nassau Coliseum to four games Thursday, when they host the struggling Philadelphia Flyers.

At 7-3-2 in its own building, New York enters the contest having posted victories over Carolina, Pittsburgh and Washington since its last home loss - a 5-1 setback to Tampa Bay on November 6. Only New Jersey (8-1-1) and Buffalo (8-2-2) have better home records than the Islanders, while Montreal owns an identical 7-3-2 mark.

In its last game, New York squandered a lead on the road and suffered a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Playing their first game without captain and leading scorer Alexei Yashin, who is sidelined two to four weeks with a knee injury, the Islanders received goals from Viktor Kozlov and Arron Asham to take a 2-1 lead.

But after Colby Armstrong forged a tie midway through the second period with his second tally of the game, Chris Thorburn scored 36 seconds into the third to give Pittsburgh the win.

The Flyers have little time to regroup after dropping a 3-2 decision to the Nashville Predators at home Wednesday. R.J. Umberger tallied 13 1/2 minutes into the third period to draw Philadelphia even at 2-2, but defenseman Mike Rathje's turnover less than two minutes later led to Martin Erat's game-winning goal.

The Atlantic Division rivals will be meeting for the second time this season. In the first of eight encounters on November 9, Yashin scored twice and Richard Park netted the winner as the Islanders skated to a 3-1 road victory. Simon Gagne had the lone tally for the Flyers.