NHL Lock Alert - Islanders at Flyers

If there is one team the New York Islanders don’t want to face, it has to be the Philadelphia Flyers. Tonight will mark the fifth of six meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals and the Flyers have won every game so far. The streak doesn’t stop there, as the Flyers have owned the Islanders like no other team in recent history. Philadelphia holds the NHL's longest active win streak over one team with, believe it or not, 15 straight games. If you’re a betting man, you would have to believe that the Islander have to win a game sooner or later, but I just don’t know if it’s tonight.

The problem for New York has been the lack of goal scoring, as just this year they have been beaten by the same 2-1 score THREE times. Overall, during this 14-game skid, they’ve been outscored 48-23 and have managed two goals or fewer 12 times. That’s awful.

The first overall draft pick in the 2009 Entry Draft, John Tavares, was brought in to fix that problem, But the prize possession of that draft, and one of the most prolific goal scorers in junior-hockey history, hasn't scored a goal in his last 17 games.

Everyone goes through slumps, and this is just a particularly bad one for the young sniper. What must be frustrating for Islanders fans is that he started out so promising, scoring 15 times in his first 31 games. But since then, Tavares has just 2 goals in his last 34 contests.

With the Islanders being so bad for so long, there are some high draft picks on that team that can sympathise with Tavares and Josh Bailey is one of those guys. Bailey went ninth overall in the 2008 Draft, and went through a rollercoaster rookie season himself.

"I know what John has been going through with the rigors of the NHL season and I have no doubt he's going to be an even better player because of it," Bailey told Islanderspointblank.com. "Like I did, John is going to have the benefit of a complete offseason working with the coaches and the training staff to prepare like an NHL player. I can't tell you what a difference that made for me last spring and summer."

I’m sure there are some guys on the Flyers squad that have gone through the same problems, but they couldn’t be happier that Tavares is snake bitten right now. This team is rolling right now, and are looking like a lock to take this one tonight.

Peter Laviolette has turned this team from one of the biggest disappointments of this year to a position to make the playoffs for the third straight season. The Flyers have won their last four games and 10 of their last 12 on home ice. They started off a four game home stand with Sunday's 3-1 win over Toronto, with the final two games against Boston and Chicago, so they’ll be looking to get these two points tonight with tougher games on the horizon.

I’d give up the puckline (-1 ½) and get the Flyers at +120.