Broken record: Flyers crush Islanders

Ahh, the Islanders. No matter what changes they make to their roster, they remain the Flyers whipping boy. On Saturday night, for the 15th time in their last 16 meetings, the Flyers beat the Islanders, 6-1. There are few things you can count on in life, but death, taxes and the Flyers beating the Islanders are constants.

The Flyers played easily their best all-around game on Saturday night, embarrassing the Isles by getting points from 11 different players, including a pair of two-goal scorers in Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger. For the first time all season, the Flyers also got a goal from a defensemen, with Kimmo Timonen scoring the first goal of the game in the first period before Pronger netted a pair in the second period.

With the Flyers up big heading into the third period, things turned ugly as both teams took shots at one another. While there was only one fight, between Dan Carcillo and Zenon Konopka, there were a number of scrums that led to 81 total penalty minutes in the third period alone. From Trevor Gillies earning a rare triple minor to Rick DiPietro wanting to drop the gloves with Carcillo, we appear to have some serious blood brewing between these two teams.

Sergei Bobrovsky also looked strong in net for the Flyers, with the only goal against him coming on a penalty shot. After a few inconsistent outings, Bob appears to have turned a corner with the Flyers, using good position and fast reflexes to turn aside shot after shot. While I had my doubts, Bobrovksy might yet stick around with the Flyers all season long.

With three straight convincing wins in a row, the Flyers are suddenly playing some great hockey. With contributions coming from every forward line and a great back line, we are finally seeing this team play up to its potential. Of course, we shouldn't get too excited about Saturday night, it was just the Islanders after all.
(AP PHOTO)