Islanders take over 1st in East with blowout victory over Flyers

The New York Islanders have the best record of any team in the Eastern Conference following their drubbing of the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday afternoon. No, it's not the early '80s, but Islanders general manager Garth Snow has built a formidable club.

Here's everything you need to know about Monday's matinee ... 

• It was a day to forget for Flyers two-way center Sean Couturier, who finished Monday's game with a minus-5 rating. That doesn't necessarily tell us everything - or anything, really - about his defensive play, but it's an ugly number for sure.
• John Tavares had a goal, an assist and peppered Flyers goaltenders Rob Zepp and Ray Emery with six shots. His goal was a thing of beauty.
• Zepp was pulled after permitting four goals on 20 shots. Emery only fared modestly better, stopping 18-of-20 shots faced.
• Nikolai Kulemin, a former 30-goal scorer, had a dynamite outing with two goals, an assist and two shots on goal in less than 10 minutes of ice time.
• Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin combined to register 19 hits in Monday's game. They should buy the Nassau Coliseum scorekeeper a beer.
• How's this for the story of Philadelphia's season: Jakub Voracek managed two points and finished with a plus-1 rating in a game the Flyers dropped by three goals.