Hextall as the team's number-one goaltender were limited by the play of his back-up, Tom Draper, who recorded a GAA of 4.23 in the seven NHL games he played that season. This, coupled with the lack of experienced goaltenders at the club's IHL affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, resulted in Hextall starting 20 games in a row until Jamie McLennan was called up from the Golden Eagles. The break, and challenge, that Hextall was afforded by McLennan's call-up helped him to recover his form, and in February, he made consecutive shutouts against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals. He recorded another shutout in his next home game, against the Flyers, and was shortly thereafter named as the NHL's player of the week. During the regular season with the Islanders, Hextall recorded a career-best five shutouts, and a GAA of 3.08, the best since his rookie year. Maloney described Hextall's time with the team as having "a slow start and a disastrous finish". The Islanders reached the playoffs, but were swept 4–0 by their rivals, the New York Rangers. Hextall played three of the four games, conceding 16 goals for a GAA of 6.08, the worst average of his NHL career by some distance. After the season had concluded, Maloney said that he believed that only two Islanders players had distinguished themselves during the 1993–94 season, with one of those being Jamie McLennan. He also praised Hextall's play during his long sequence of starts, but five months later, Maloney traded Hextall back to Philadelphia. He described the move as being two-pronged: it would appease the fans and prevent the derisory calls when the team were struggling, and it would give McLennan a chance to establish himself as the number-one goaltender. Hextall, along with a sixth round draft pick was traded to the Flyers in return for goaltender Tommy Söderström on September 22, 1994. Return to Philadelphia In the 1994–95 season, his first season back in Philadelphia, Hextall played 31 games and recorded his lowest GAA in a season to that point, 2.89. The Flyers reached the playoffs for the first time in six years. After defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, the Flyers faced the New York Rangers in the second. Following the Rangers sweep of the Islanders the previous season, the Rangers' fans chanted "We Want Hex-tall!" during their game-six victory in the first round. The Flyers'