Harry Zolnierczyk brings energy to Flyers' rout of Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Time and Tye McGinn throughout a season, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is faced with tough lineup decisions - constantly juggling role players and lines in search of a perfect fit.

For Monday's matinee on Long Island, that surprisingly meant a seat in the press box for rookie McGinn, who has provided a serious spark for the Flyers in his first 13 NHL games.

McGinn, 22, collected three goals, including the game-winner in Winnipeg a week ago, and two assists in the 13 games. He was even moved up to the first line for a stretch, with Claude Giroux, before being bumped out of the lineup Monday by Harry Zolnierczyk. At one point, McGinn was averaging nearly 17 minutes a game, where his size and grit were noticeable.

"This is nothing against Tye, he's been real good for us," Laviolette said. "We've got good young players and decisions to make before every game."

The tinkering paid off for Laviolette, who moved Matt Read on a line with Giroux and Jake Voracek for the first time this season.

And Zolnierczyk fed Zac Rinaldo in the third period for Rinaldo's first goal of the season as the Flyers rolled, 7-0.

"Every time Harry's been in the lineup, he brings energy," Laviolette explained. "He brings it in the locker room, he brings it on the ice. His play to Zac was a great example of that. He had one [chance] earlier, he had one in Winnipeg. [We wanted] that speed and jump he brings to the lineup, trying to get a little bit quicker."

In their last two home games, the Islanders victimized opponents on their power play. They went 3-for-6 against New Jersey on Saturday and 4-for-5 vs. Carolina last Monday.

Those stats meant nothing to the Flyers, who extended their perfect penalty-killing streak to six straight games. They've killed off 21 straight penalties and they're 38-for-40 (95 percent) in their last 10 games.

Monday's blowout win featured a key, five-on-three kill for a full 2 minutes in the first period while the Flyers' lead was just 1-0. New York's second-ranked power play (27 percent) was limited to just one shot during that two-man advantage.

"I think we're in the shooting lanes more," Sean Couturier said. "Max [Talbot] and 'Feds' [Ruslan Fedotenko] had two or three blocked shots in a row. It gives momentum to our penalty kill. We're doing a good job just keeping it simple and not forcing plays."

The Flyers blocked a total of 23 shots, compared to the Islanders' eight. The shot-blocking is a big reason why the penalty kill has rebounded into the Flyers' best special-teams unit after a shaky, 21-for-31 (68 percent) start.

"We've ironed out all of the details," Fedotenko said. "With a short training camp, not many practices, maybe that was it - not knowing where everyone was going. We know where we're going now. We've been solid on the PK; I thought we've been aggressive there."

The Flyers have three juicy opportunities left against the Islanders, but that means they have 28 other tests against tougher opponents remaining. In other words, whether their success on Monday will carry over in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night remains to be seen.

The Flyers' first line grabbed headlines by exploding for 10 points, but they also received contributions from Rinaldo, Brayden Schenn (two points), in addition to Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson (one assist each).

Danny Briere added the final two goals, his fourth and fifth of the year. Poor Evgeni Nabokov, left to suffer through all seven goals, barely tried for Briere's top-shelf snipe.

"I know they didn't mean much in the scheme of the game, but sometimes confidencewise it can be huge," Briere said. "Everybody had a chance to chip in, even Zac and Harry 'Z' making big plays. It's good for everybody's confidence."

In his 400th NHL appearance, the Flyers' No. 30 collected the 30th shutout of his career. Ilya Bryzgalov was unflappable, as he has been most of the season, stopping all 19 shots.

It was the Flyers' most lopsided shutout since Antero Niittymaki's 7-0 thrashing of Atlanta on Oct. 28, 2008.

"It's part of the game," a nonchalant Bryzgalov said postgame. "You can't play the game without giving up scoring chances and shots. Overall, the team played very tight and good defensively, blocking shots."