Derek Stepan

It's not often the Flyers play against Henrik Lundqvist and say that the goaltending was the difference-maker in a victory over New York.

Steve Mason was lights-out despite his team's poor offensive showing. His effort enabled the Flyers to steal a 4-2 win from the Rangers despite being out-played for much of the game.

Mason faced 40 shots, stopping 38 in the win. The Flyers got only 22 on net the entire game, leaving Mason to do all the work and steal a much-needed win from the Rangers.

(Pictured: Steve Mason during warmups. Photo by John Russo/The Checking Line - Flyers Edition)

It was milestone night in Philadelphia, but unfortunately for them, the milestones all belonged to the Rangers.

On a night where three Rangers reached impressive plateaus, the Flyers hit rock bottom. They dropped an embarrassing loss to the Rangers, losing 5-2 to knock them down to 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

The win for New York was the 400th career win for their head coach, John Tortorella.

Derek Stepan had a tremendous game for the Rangers, putting up a dominating four-point night.

(Pictured: Rich Nash is defended by Ruslan Fedotenko. Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

The stage was set for an emotional carry over into Saturday morning regardless of the outcome of Friday night's Islanders/Rangers game; a win for the Isles against their biggest rival and top team in the Eastern Conference would keep their playoff hopes alive, but a loss to their number one foe would have been a crushing blow to their confidence and chances.

Fortunately, the orange and blue would come on top with a 4-3 shootout victory with Matt Moulson netting the finally tally in the fourth round.

Tensions were high at the start of the game and Matt Martin decided to ease things up a bit by fighting Stu Bickel just over two minutes into the game. Both got their licks in before Martin swung and missed, falling to the ice to end the fight early. A fair draw would set the tone for how evenly the game would be played.

(Photo Credit: Robert Kowal/Flickr)

Preview:  The New York Islanders return home to Nassau Coliseum to take on their all-time rival, the New York Rangers. 

The Islanders are coming off a western road trip which saw them give up a 3 goal lead in an overtime loss to the Avalanche, and a clinic put on by the Canucks in a loss to Vancouver.  The Islanders have played better hockey since changing up their offensive lines a few games ago, putting up more scoring chances more consistently.  However, they haven’t been able to translate the better play into wins.  A win tonight against the Rangers would mean even more than usual, as it would end a slide of losing efforts. 

The Rangers ...