Jets hope to start long trip in positive way

PHILADELPHIA -- Tonight marks the first game of the Jets' season-long seven-game, 14-day road trip up and down the East Coast.

Following tonight's game, they'll head south for two games in Florida, and then come back north for four games in six nights against the Islanders, Devils, Rangers and Sabres.

Coach Claude Noel said the key to surviving so long on the road is not to think about how long the total trip is; rather, just focus on the next game.

"For us, you have to focus on the task at hand," he said. "You take one game at a time and go from there. We're not going to deal with the amount of time that we're away. We just deal with one game and try to win the game that's in front of us and go from there."

At 0-3-1 away from MTS Centre this season, picking up a win in a tough building -- even against a team like the Flyers that's coming on having just played on the road the night before -- would be a nice start.

"We understand it's a long (trip)," said team captain Andrew Ladd. "We're going to be playing in some tough buildings. At the same time, it's a good test for us, coming in here tonight and playing one of the top teams in the League and seeing what we have."

As the Atlanta Thrashers last season, they won three of four games against the Flyers, including both games in Philadelphia.

Ladd is hoping past results bode well for tonight's game.

"We played a lot of our best games last year against top teams," he said. "They seemed to bring the best out of us."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

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