A few weeks ago, the Eastern Conference Playoff race seemed as crowded as possible. Only a handful of points separated teams in the last few spots from those at the bottom of the conference.

The New York Islanders (23-20-7) marched into the Wells Fargo Center and soundly defeated the Philadelphia Flyers (23-24-6) 3-0 on Thursday night.

But when a stretch of eight Metropolitan Division games out of nine ended on Thursday night, the Flyers’ 3-0 loss to the visiting New York Islanders left Philadelphia’s record at 3-4-1 for that key segment.

Tonight's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders at Wells Fargo Center promises to be a high-energy and potentially heated affair.

The New York Islanders visit the Philadelphia Flyers after Simon Holmstrom scored two goals in the Islanders' 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche

The Flyers, who currently rank 19th on the PK, finished fourth last season and led the NHL with 16 shorthanded goals.

This is the second of a home-and-home series. Philly won its home game on Monday, 4-2, over New Jersey, which will host the Wednesday matchup.

Connor McDavid scored in his return from a three-game suspension as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the visiting Seattle Kraken 4-2 Monday night. Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry and Mattias Ekholm also tallied for the Oilers,

Marco Kasper scored twice, Lucas Raymond had a goal and three assists, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Monday night.

BOTTOM LINE: The New Jersey Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers in a matchup of Metropolitan Division squads. New Jersey is 8-6-3 against the Metropolitan Division and 28-18-6 overall. The Devils are 8-3-1 in games they score one or more power-play goals.

Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Garnet Hathaway scored to help the Philadelphia Flyers build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Monday night.

Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Garnet Hathaway scored to help the Philadelphia Flyers build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Monday night. Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist to help the Flyers snap a two-game losing streak and win the opener of a home-and-home set.