NHL 2nd Round Begins Tonight at Philadelphia and Montreal

Rick Tocchet, the most penalized player in the NHL, knows he’s going to have to control himself as the Philadelphia Flyers move into a best-of-seven Norris Division final against the New York Islanders.

“The big thing is trying to keep our temper and not make stupid mistakes,” said Tocchet, who was assessed 286 minutes in penalties this season.

“I’ve been in the league three years now, and I’ve learned that you make one mistake in April, and you could be on the golf course real early.”

The Flyers and Islanders begin their division championship series in Philadelphia tonight. Quebec plays at Montreal, the defending Stanley Cup champion, in the Adams Division title series beginning tonight.

The Tuesday night schedule has Toronto at Detroit in the Norris Division final, and Winnipeg at Edmonton in the Smythe Division series.

The Flyers and Islanders both go into their series with injury problems.

Philadelphia, which defeated the New York Rangers in six games to win their division semifinal, has only one true center, Peter Zezel, healthy. Murray Craven has a broken foot, Ron Sutter is out with a bad back and Dave Poulin has a rib injury.