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NEW YORK -- Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol was happy that his team put together a strong effort for a full game against the Islanders.The Flyers came away with a 3-2 shootout victory Thursday night when Claude Giroux scored the lone goal of the tiebreaker.I liked our entire 65 minutes, Hakstol said.Travis Konecny and Matt Read also scored for the Flyers, who improved to 6-5-1 with their third straight victory.Played a full game, Konecny said. A full 60 minutes. I was really happy and all the guys were really happy with that one.Dennis Seidenberg and John Taveres had goals for the Islanders and Jaroslav Halak stopped 40 of 42 shots.Despite both teams struggling to stop their opponents, neither scored in the first period. Philadelphia outshot New York 14-8 in the period and 42-27 for the game.They were better in the first period, Halak said. Dont know the reason why. We just have to come out the way they did. Like I said, I think in the second and the third we were better. But 60 minute effort right now is missing. Sometimes you can get away with 40, 45 minute effort. Right now we need 60.Michal Neuvirth made 25 saves for the Flyers.Konecny got the Flyers on the board in the second period. He corralled a stretch pass from Radko Gudas and fired a shot that Halak stopped, but the goalie wasnt able to control the rebound and Philadelphias rookie center put in his second goal of the season.It also marked only the fourth time this season that Philadelphia scored the first goal and was also the Flyers league-leading 21st second period goal.We didnt give up a whole lot, thats the difference, Sean Couturier said. Usually were giving scoring chances were given up too many goals. Tonight was one of those games where we tightened things up. We scored less goals but we found way to win.The lead lasted for all of 8:20, as Tavares tapped in a power-play goal with 29 seconds left in the period. The goal was Tavares fifth overall and his second on the power play.The Islanders went ahead 2-1 on Seidenbergs goal with 7:05 left. It was his fourth of the season. Read tied it with less than a minute left when he put in his sixth goal of the season.Reads goal was on the power play which occurred after Casey Cizikas high-sticked Giroux.They had six guys, we had four, so were in the penalty box. Its four power play goals the last two games. And its truly cost us, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. Casey was just trying to play hockey and his stick came up a little bit.New York dropped to 4-6-1 with its fourth loss in five games.The level of concern for me is a power play goal with (Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck and Tavares on the ice) and (an even strength goal from) Seidenberg, Capuano said. Thats my concern. Where are we going to get point production? One hundred and thirty four points out of our lineup that we lost (in the off-season defections of Matt Martin, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen). Now we have to find a way. Like everything gets magnified, I get it. You guys are talking about the (losses) lately, its a power play goal, but we have to find a way to get some balanced offense in our hockey team.Thats my concern.Game notesPrior to the game, the Flyers announced D Andrew MacDonald would miss a week with a lower body injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Nick Schultz. The team also noted C Boyd Gordon was placed on the injured reserve. Left winger Michael Raffl was activated in the corresponding roster move, and skated on a line with Giroux and RW Wayne Simmonds. ... RW Dale Weise was scratched. ... New York scratched G Jean-Francois Berube, LW Anthony Beauvillier and C Matthew Barzal. ... The game was the first of four regular season meetings between the longtime rivals. The Flyers and Islanders are scheduled to play Jan. 22 in New York, Feb. 9 in Philadelphia and Mar. 30 in Philadelphia.UP NEXT:Flyers: Play at Montreal Saturday.Islanders: Play Edmonton Saturday.Fake Yeezy 350 V3 . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Yeezy 350 v2 Black Cheap . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.yeezys350cheap.com/fake-yeezy-350-zebra-wholesale.html . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Fake Yeezys For Sale . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. Yeezy 350 Mens Wholesale .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit.LAS VEGAS -- Im selfish. Ill admit it.When it comes to watching sports on television or in person, its all about me. I want to be entertained. I want heroes and villains. I want to have someone to cheer, and someone to boo. I want to laugh. I want to curse. And every now and again I want to see a moment thrilling enough to force me to get up out of my seat.Poker used to provide that for me. It was the foundation for some of my favorite reality shows a decade ago. Not only would I watch the World Series of Poker every year, but I would watch the World Poker Tour on The Travel Channel, Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo, High Stakes Poker on GSN, Poker Dome Challenge on FSN, Poker After Dark on NBC and Im sure a handful of other now-defunct shows.I didnt necessarily watch because of the poker; I already got my fix of bad beats at the hands of my little brother, who like millions of others briefly wanted to become a professional poker player after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 World Series of Poker. I watched because of the characters I had become connected to while watching all these shows. I developed this bond because they all talked at the table and revealed a human side of themselves I either liked (Antonio Esfandiari), disliked (Phil Hellmuth) or was simply apathetic to (Joe Hachem).It was similar to my love of pro wrestling. When it comes to the art of the squared circle, Im not a purist who watches for five-star matches replete with every move from an arm bar to a wheelbarrow. I love the guys who can get on the microphone and rile up the crowd.Like many others, I started to lose interest in poker as a televised sport before it was hit with its Black Friday in 2011. The shows became stale, there was never an influx of new young stars to mix things up and there were only so many times I could hear the same jokes from the same players and commentators.But I was told the World Series of Poker main event final table was the one time where poker once again felt like it did a decade ago. For three days in the fall it was once again a spectator sport, drawing big crowds for a nationally televised event worth millions of dollars for the nine players at the table.After attending this years November Nine, I came away yearning for the characters that made me fall in love with the game as I tried to stay awake until the final hand.No tickets were needed to watch the final table, but there were times when it felt like a library card might be needed. For the better part of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the quietest place in Las Vegas was the Penn & Teller Theater, which has been the home of the November Nine since 2008.The characters, drama and banter (ranging from collegial to contentious), which made poker such a fun sport to watch a decade ago, were completely absent inside an eerily quiet 1,475-seat theater where ushers roamed the aisles like teachers through a classroom to make sure no one was on their cell phones.The only voice that could be heard from the stage during each hand was that of Jack Effel, the vice president and tournament director for the WSOP who doubles as the play-by-play announcer for the in-house audience. The players had their own cheering sections inside the theater, which made up much of the live crowd that diminished with each day as players were eliminated.Michael Ruane, 28, had the most boisterous section, with many of his friends dressed as pro wrestlers from the 1990s. Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen, 39, had a ton of local support as they chanted, Who win? Qui Nguyen! each time he collected chips. And those cheering for Kenny Hallaert, 34, mixed in some European soccer chants. But people watching a crowd filled with friends and family is only interesting to a certain point.I knew I wouldnt have any real connection to the November Nine coming into the final table, but the truth is I had no real connection to them after watching them play for a dozen hours either.dddddddddddd Its inherently hard to connect to people that dont say anything, or show any emotion.The oldest and most recognizable player at the final table, and the chip leader when play began, was 50-year old Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy, who had previously won two WSOP bracelets. While normally engaging, Josephy was mostly silent for the first two days and even went against the grain by wearing glasses and a hat on the final day, which he never does and previously said he was against.Theres more tension at the final table, Josephy said. Everyone is tense. Theyre playing for money that many people havent seen in their lives. Its understandable that people dont talk but everyone is friendly. Everyone likes each other. This is a group of guys that really like each other. Everyone is nice.Effel echoed those sentiments after the second day of play as the chips for the final three players, Josephy, Gordon Vayo and Nguyen, the eventual winner, were put away.When youre playing for $8 million youre paying attention to every little thing that you do, Effel said. Youre hoping somebody else makes a mistake so you can capitalize on their mistakes. Theyre more interested in playing poker than talking.It makes sense, of course, but it also makes me nostalgic for a time where the stakes didnt make players go into their shells. The walkway leading into the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas is lined with oversized photographs of past WSOP main event champions. I didnt recognize the past eight champions, all in their 20s, who looked more like fraternity pledges than poker champions. But I stopped when I got to Jamie Golds photo. Ten years ago Gold, who was a talent agent turned television producer, won the 2006 WSOP main event and $12 million, still a record, while outlasting a field of 8,773 entrants -- also a record. It was the high water mark of a game that would soon see a significant dip in interest and participation.Gold was an antagonist and a polarizing figure during his improbable run a decade ago, and one of my favorite players to watch. He talked big while bluffing with nothing, sweet-talked players into reluctantly folding better hands by telling them he would show them his hand and even flashed one of his cards to Michael Binger at the final table, causing Binger to lay down the winning hand. The reasons his antics were frowned upon by purists were the same reasons I enjoyed watching him play.You need to have players talking to have heroes and villains, Gold told me over the phone after the first day of the final table. Once you take away the character side of it, youre killing the entertainment value and the reason why advertisers, sponsors and viewers would want to watch. I wasnt that special, but I had an opportunity to create a character by speaking. Viewers want to watch personalities and have a storyline and an arc play out on television. For the most part, poker on television has become this mundane, mind-numbing endeavor.Even worse than the television viewing experience, however, is the live viewing experience. At least viewers at home are able to see the players hands while listening to the entertaining trio of Lon McEachern, Norman Chad and Esfandiari in the broadcast booth. But not even the personalities of the announcers can make up for the disconnect between the viewers and the players at the table.Until that connection can once again be made, my poker needs will continue to be met away from my television -- relegated instead to losing money to my little brother. ' ' '