James van Riemsdyk

The New York Islanders kick off their first road trip of the season tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. It will be the first of three meetings between the two teams during the shortened 48-game season.

With healthy head coach Jack Capuano back behind the bench, the Isles came out on Monday afternoon with confidence and agility. They look to keep the momentum going tonight and pick up another two points. (Photo Credit: gbalogh/Flickr)

A dream come true.

That’s exactly how both Brayden and Luke Schenn feel after Luke was traded from Toronto to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon for James van Riemsdyk.

Luke, 22, will join his 20-year-old brother Brayden in Philadelphia a year after Brayden was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in a package deal for Mike Richards.

There is a laundry list of reasons given when a team doesn’t perform well: tension in the locker room, injuries, a lack of jump, so on and so forth. The team vows that they’ll play better next time, that they’ll keep working at it, and they’ll be just fine.

That’s a vow the Flyers are going to need to keep in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, after dropping two games in a row to the New Jersey Devils and falling a game behind in the series.

A one-game deficit might not sound like that big of an issue, but with the way the Flyers have played over the last two games, tying the series up seems like a much more daunting task than it usually might.

There have been slow starts, lapses in communication, weak goals allowed, and defensive breakdowns – things that the team has been dealing with all season. After 91 games, it’s about time that they figure out a solution to those issues.

The long-awaited playoff debut for James van Riemsdyk is finally here.

The left-winger, who had missed the last seven weeks with a broken foot, will be in tonight’s line up for the Flyers for Game 5 in Pittsburgh. He will likely be skating on the third line with Jake Voracek and Matt Read.

Tim Pinaccio of CSN tweeted the update: "JVR arrives with first group of players which indicates he is in rinaldo was not with that group."

Going by that tweet, Rinaldo will not dress for tonight's game even though he was not suspended for his actions in the 10-3 loss during Game 4.

After a good practice on Thursday, the man they call “JvR” said he is ready to play. But whether he will play will be up to the people in charge.