UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders traded veteran defenceman Andrew MacDonald to the Metropolitan Division rival Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a pair of draft picks and minor league centre Matt Mangene. The deal was announced one day before the NHL trade deadline and several hours before the Islanders played the Jets in Winnipeg. Philadelphia will host Washington on Wednesday night, following the afternoon dealing deadline. MacDonald will bolster the Flyers defence corps as they push for a playoff spot. Philadelphia, which also has former Islanders defenceman Mark Streit on the back end, is currently in second place in the Metropolitan, one point ahead of the New York Rangers and two points above the post-season cutoff. Streit, who spent time as MacDonalds defence partner with New York, was traded to the Flyers last June after serving as Islanders team captain. He then signed a four-year, $21 million contract less than a week after the deal, before he could become a free agent. New York is in a selling mode now, all but certain to fail in its bid to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The Islanders, who are last in the division, acquired a third-round pick in this years draft and a second-round choice in 2015, along with Mangene. The Islanders had arguably the top available defenceman and forward in this years trade market. Leading scorer Thomas Vanek, acquired earlier this season from Buffalo, also is expected to be dealt before Wednesdays deadline. The 27-year-old MacDonald, who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has four goals and 20 assists in 63 games this season. He leads the NHL with 198 blocked shots and is eighth in average ice time per game at 25 minutes, 25 seconds. In 295 career NHL games over six seasons, all with the Islanders, MacDonald has 17 goals and 72 assists. He was chosen by New York in the sixth round of the 2006 draft. Mangene, who will turn 25 on March 12, has three goals and three assists in 51 games this season with Adirondack of the American Hockey League. He was assigned to Bridgeport. Mangene played three seasons of college hockey at Maine, and had 16 goals and 34 points in his final season of 2011-12. He signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers in 2012 before being sent to Adirondack. In 92 career games with Adirondack, Mangene had 14 goals and 15 assists. Antonio Callaway Jersey . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. Jhavonte Dean Jersey . For the Miami Heat, that was outstanding news. LeBron James scored the last of his 32 points on a layup that put Miami up for good with 11. http://www.cheapbrownsjerseysauthentic.com/. He still wanted out. "It just seemed like the direction they were going didnt fit what I thought my career was going to be," Kesler said. "At the end of the day I want to win a championship and I want to win it now, and four years is a little too long for me. Adarius Taylor Jersey .S. -- Carl-Antoine Delisle snapped a tie in the third period with his second goal of the game to lead the Tigres past Cape Breton 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday as Victoriaville won its eighth in a row. Eric Kush Jersey . The South Africa international, who rejoined the club last month on loan from Tottenham, opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a powerful shot into the roof of the net. MASON, Ohio -- John Isners absence from the ATP top 20 will be brief. The 6-foot-10 American made sure of that Saturday, rallying to beat seventh-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a grueling Western & Southern Open semifinal. Isner, who fell from No. 20 to 22 this week, will return to the top 20 after a stimulating Cincinnati run that includes beating three straight top-10 players for the first time in his career while earning his second Masters 1000 series finals appearance and first in Cincinnati. His previous Masters 1000 final appearance was at Indian Wells in 2012. "Its awesome to be at this stage again," said Isner, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and No. 8 Richard Gasquet in the second round. "Ive been playing pretty well this season, but this tournament is where Ive really started to put it all together. Im playing pretty well in all facets of the game." Isner, in his first appearance in the tournaments semifinals, had been 0-4 against the Argentine. Hell play third-seeded Rafael Nadal, who beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal to reach the tournament final for the first time in nine appearances. "This is one tournament that Ive never been able to play well, so its something special to play well in a place I never did in the past," said Nadal, 3-0 in his career against Isner. "Im very happy for that. I am having the right feelings on court. Im playing aggressive, and the crowd here is great." Nadal extended his personal winning streak against the Czech to 14 matches while improving his overall season record 52-3, including 14-0 on hardcourts. After winning at Montreal last week, the Spaniard will be making back-to-back appearances in hardcourt finals for the first time in his career. Hes 15-1 against top-10 players this season. Top-ranked Serena Williams also will be making her first career appearance in the events championship match after ousting defending champion Li Na, 7-5, 7-5, in the first womens semifinal. Williams, seeking her ninth title of the year, advanced when Li double-faulted on match point. WWilliams improved to 60-3 this season.dddddddddddd "I really would not have predicted myself being in the finals here at all, so its definitely pretty exciting for me," said Williams, who clinched the 2013 Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series womens title with the win and can earn a $1 million bonus if she wins the U.S. Open. "Really unexpected for me, too. I came in here not playing my best, and now Im in the final. Its just almost weird." Williams will play second-seeded Victoria Azarenka in Sundays final. Azarenka beat 14th-seeded Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a semifinal that featured 23 service breaks in 27 games. Isner needed 2 hours, 47 minutes to improve to 16-3 since retiring from Wimbledon in the second round because of a left knee injury. He finished off the win when del Potro sent a backhand from the baseline into the net. Despite tossing into a persistent swirling breeze and bright sunshine, both players served so effectively early that the first set included just one break point, fought off by the 22nd-ranked Isner. The 6-foot-6 Del Potro came up with a crucial mini-break on the 11th point of the tiebreaker when Isner sailed his backhand volley wide to lose the set. Del Potro broke Isner in the eighth game of the second set to put himself into position to serve for the match, but he double-faulted on match point and Isner came up with his own break to stay alive and eventually force a tiebreak that he won when del Potro sent a forehand wide to the deuce court. "I think I lost the match in the second set," del Potro said. "That was my chance to beat him. He was fighting all the time and deserved to win the third set, but I missed my chance." "I know, at that moment, that the sun on that side was pretty bad," said Isner, who can become the first American to win the tournament since Andy Roddick in 2006. "We both struggled with that for about 30 minutes." Despite the loss to Nadal, B