The City of Trenton was treated to an old-fashioned hockey game between their NHL affiliates at Sovereign Bank Arena ("a gem of a hockey barn" to quote the Islander's Official Web Site). The Philadelphia Flyers opened up the scoring with newly acquired veteran Kevin Steven's power play goal at 7:36 of the first period. John LeClair lit the lantern less than a minute later for the 2-0 advantage over the Islanders. The sellout crowd was 'treated' to the first fight of the season later in the period when Flyers brute Steve McLaren and Islanders defenseman/instigator Ray Schultz (subsequently sent to the showers with a misconduct) locked horns. New York rallied to tie the preseason match early in the second frame with goals from 1999/2000's top scorer Mariusz Czerkawski (on the power play) and NHL sophomore Mathieu Biron. A couple of minutes later, Flyers netminder Roman Cechmanek (10 saves on 12 shots) was pulled in favor of phenom prospect Maxime Ouellet. Rookie Brad Tiley's power play goal at 11:24 of the second period recaptured the lead for Philadelphia and LeClair's second tally of the evening gave them the 4-2 lead.

Don't call me Francis? The second period featured three more fights: former Titan Francis Belanger versus New York's Dean Scatchard, Flyers defenseman Francis Lessard against Isles defenseman Eric Cairns (resulting in a broken jaw for Lessard), and a final showdown between Steve McLaren and Eric Cairns. The final period of the game was devoid of both scoring and pugilism. "Mad Max" Ouellet finished the night with a spotless 18 saves on 18 shots for the 4-2 Flyers win while Islanders goalie John Vanbiesbrouck went the distance for the loss with 27 saves on 31 shots. Netminder Stephen Valiquette, the first former Titan to debut in the NHL, remained on the Islanders bench as Beezer's unused backup.