Jonas Gustavsson

It was just one week ago that the Wings fell short to the Stars at their home opener on Tuesday, January 22nd. The Wings are looking for a second chance to prove themselves against the Stars and take 2 points tonight, which, speaking from a bruised Wngs fan, is much needed after that Chicago game. Catch the game tonight at 7:30pm.

Toronto Maple Leafs starting goalie Jonas Gustavsson took a puck to the leg in Thursday’s warm-ups. Gustavsson laid sprawled out on the ice and was forced to leave the ice before the game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Once the puck dropped, the Flyers added insult to his injury.

Brayden Schenn opened the scoring just 5:34 into the game with a rifled shot past backup Jussi Rynnas. Schenn’s first shot was blocked, and moments later fired off a Wayne Simmonds assist.

He added another goal less than six minutes later on the power play. As the man advantage wound down, Daniel Briere found Schenn on a two-on-one. The rookie easily beat Rynnas for his 11th goal of the season.

It’s hard to believe that there are only 16 games left in the regular season.

This is the point where those on the cusp decide their fate, and those locked in begin to look ahead to the postseason.

The Philadelphia Flyers (38-21-7) currently sit in 5th place in the Eastern Conference and will most likely be heading to the playoffs.

Despite a drastically different roster than last season’s and countless injuries throughout the lineup, the team has been in the mix since the start of the season.

The Islanders take to the ice tonight looking to respond after a tough lost last night to the Maple Leafs. Tonight will be the Islanders last chance to head into the All-Star break on a winning note. The Islanders and Maple Leafs also both look to keep playoff hopes alive with wins in tonight’s contest.

The Islanders are still only 9 points out of a playoff spot and after going out and laying a goose egg last night they need to play much better in tonight’s game. Capuano suggested that after last night’s game there could be some line-up changes. Those should be released later this morning but the only change I would truly like to see is the promotion of Nino Niederreitier and the demotion of Brian Rolston. In recent games we have all seen the improvement of play from Nino and he deserves more ice time and better line mates. In the case of Rolston, he just hasn’t played well recently and may need a demotion to find the fire he once had in his play. He is constantly missing the net on many great chances and is the cause of some turnovers. On a team that is struggling to find secondary scoring, mistakes from a veteran like that can’t happen.