PITTSBURGH _ Sunday afternoon, at the Igloo in Pittsburgh, the Flyers and Penguins will meet in a nationally televised showdown for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
     It’s good to see a percolating Philadelphia-Pittsburgh rivalry. It reminds me of when the Phillies’ biggest rival was the Pittsburgh Pirates.
     Remember?
     That, of course, was before Major League Baseball somehow put the Pirates into the NL Central.
     But I digress….
     In the NHL, the Flyers have nearby rivals New Jersey, Washington and the New York Rangers, but the rivalry with the Penguins is going to intensify in upcoming weeks.
     Who knows? Maybe it’ll get to the point of the Phillies-Pirates back in the days when Willie Stargell was saying, “Hitting Steve Carlton is like drinking coffee with a fork.”
     The Flyers don’t like the Penguins. And vice versa.
     And Flyers fans love to try to distract Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby with chants, boos and signs. (It hasn’t worked. Crosby has a mind-boggling 45 points in 25 career games against the Flyers.)
     Last year, the Penguins cruised past the Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals, winning in five games.
     There were extenuating circumstances, however. Most importantly, the Flyers played most of that series without their top two defensemen, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn, each of whom were injured.
    They’re healthy now _ and the Flyers, with a year of experience and the blossoming of young stars like Jeff Carter, are a stronger team than last season.
    The Penguins, meanwhile, have taken a step backward this season. They have lost several key players from last year, most notably Marian Hossa.
   That said, the Penguins are the NHL’s hottest team, having gone 12-1-3 in their last 16 games.

   The Flyers have been so-so in the season’s second half. They need to string together some wins and take some momentum into the playoffs _ like they did last year.
   The Flyers and Penguins are tied for the No. 4 seed in the East, but Philadelphia has three games in hand. The fourth seed gets home-ice advantage in the opening round.
    After Sunday’s showdown, the Flyers will play host to Eastern Conference power New Jersey on Monday at the Wachovia Center.
   “We’re in control of our own destiny,” said Danny Briere, who looked back in form with a two-goal performance Friday against Buffalo.
    The Flyers have won just one of five games (1-2-2) against the Pens this season. Since the teams are likely to meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Flyers need a victory Sunday to send a message….and gain some confidence.
   The last time the teams met, disaster struck the Flyers. In the closing minutes, goalie Marty Biron charged about 30 feet out of his net and tried to clear the puck.
    Bad move. Flyer-killer Crosby ended up scoring into a goalie-less net with 2:45 to go, giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 victory.
   On Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Biron will get a chance to make amends.

* * * * * * 

    Defenseman Randy Jones, sidelined by a hip injury the last two games, said he was almost 100 percent healthy after a productive practice here Saturday. It will be a game-time decision as to wheher he plays Sunday.

     Flyers coach John Stevens made changes on all four lines during practice Thursday in Voorhees, a move he hopes will pay dividends Friday in Buffalo, where they will face the desperate Sabres .

      The changes were made to get Danny Briere more involved in the offense and to create more balance among the lines.

      Here is how the lines will look:

    ** Scott Hartnell-Jeff Carter-Briere.

    ** Simon Gagne-Claude Giroux-Mike Knuble.

    ** Daniel Carcillo-Mike Richards-Joffrey Lupul.

    ** Riley Cote-Darroll Powe-Arron Asham.

    For most of the season, the Flyers' first two lines have remained intact _ Richards centering Gagne and Knuble, and Carter centering Hartnell and Lupul.

    All six of those players have more than 20 goals.

    In the new set-up, each of the top three lines will have a pair of 20-plus goal scorers.

     "I think it forces you to focus a little more," Stevens said of the line changes, "and maybe communicate a little more. And maybe while you're sitting on the bench, talk about things a little more."

     Briere has been playing mostly on the fourth line since he returned to the lineup four games ago. Sidelined by groin and abdominal injuries for most of the season, Briere started to show positive signs in Tuesday's 3-2 loss in Detroit as he created a handful of scoring chances.

    "Nothing says he won't go back to the old combinations in a couple games, but he's just trying to find something new," Lupul said. "And sometimes it's good to shake things up. Guys get a little too comfortable in one situation."

     The Flyers have lost three of their last four games, during which they have not spent much time in their opponents' end. In those three losses, they have scored a total of four goals.

       The Flyers are tied for the No. 4 seeding in the East, but were just six points ahead of No. 9 Florida heading into Thursday night.

     If they don't get their act together quickly, they might have to huff and puff just to qualify for the playoffs. Like last year.

    "We have to start winning games," Hartnell said. "It's crunch time for us." 

      DETROIT _ Captain Mike Richards said he thought the Flyers played a good game last night.

      Actually, goalie Marty Biron played a GREAT game, but most of his teammates allowed the Red Wings to skate around them as Detroit scored a 3-2 comeback win at the reverberating Joe Louis Arena.

     The final score was misleading. The defending Stanley Cup champion Wings outshot the Flyers, 48-26.

     If Biron wasn't at the top of his game, this could have been a 6-2 wipeout.

     Detroit fired 48 shots on net and took 35 other shots for a total of 83. Repeat: 83. The Flyers took 37 shots (26 on net).
    You cannot allow a team to take 83 shots and expect to win.

    In their last three games, the Flyers have allowed 41, 39 and 48 shots on goal.

   That's not acceptable if the team thinks it's a Stanley Cup contender.

   They are now tied with streaking Pittsburgh for the fourth seeding in the Eastern Conference, though the Flyers have three games in hand.

   Those games in hand will be meaningless unless the Flyers tighten their defense, stop taking foolish penalties and start producing on the power play. They are a horrid 5 for 47 on the power play in their last 10 games.

   The Flyers blew a 2-0 lead and missed a chance to register one of their few statement wins. They have won just 15 of 38 games against teams that are current playoff qualifiers.

     Braydon Coburn is in, Randy Jones is out.
     That’s the good news/bad news scenario for the Flyers’ defensemen.
     After reviewing the video today, the NHL did not suspend Coburn, who had claimed his high-sticking violation of the Rangers’ Nik Antroprov Sunday was in self-defense.
     But Jones, who sat out the last half of Sunday’s third period because of a hip/groin injury, will miss a handful of games.
     "In speaking with the trainers, we are probably looking at a week to a week and a half,” said Jones, when asked how long he expected to be sidelined.
     To replace Jones, the Flyers recalled defenseman Danny Syvret, 23, under emergency conditions from their AHL affiliate, the Phantoms.
    Syvret, an AHL all-star selection this season, has 11 goals and 37 assists and 42 penalty minutes in 65 games with the Phantoms.
     In 26 career NHL games with Edmonton, Syvret had one assist and 12 penalty minutes. The Flyers acquired him from the Oilers for forward Ryan Potulny on June 6, 2008.

* * * * * * 

   On Tuesday, the Flyers have a gargantuan challenge as they try to end a winless streak in Detroit that dates back to 1988. Since then, the Flyers are 0-13-2 in the Motor City.

    It is the longest current winless streak in the NHL.

    The defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings lead the league with 101 points.

    Flyers winger Scott Hartnell is excited to face a Western Conference team.

    "Any time you play a team out West that you don't see very often and is having the success they're having, we want to play our best game and see where we match up," said Hartnell, adding that the Flyers need to play a physical game to offset the Red Wings' puck-controlling skills. "We have to hit them and take the time and space away and play Flyers hockey."
 

    Sean Avery scored two goals today to trigger the New York Rangers' 4-1 win over the Flyers at electric Madison Square Garden.

   It was his first two-goal game in nearly a year, and both scores were on the power play.

   The Rangers were 3 for 9 on the power play, while the Flyers were 1 for 6.

    The Flyers, who are now just four points ahead of the Rangers, have only 14 regular-season games left. Fourteen games to figure out why their special teams are no longer special.

    If they don't figure it out, they will make an early playoff exit.

    Goaltending and special teams, of course, are even more magnified in the playoffs. Marty Biron, who had today off, seems to be rounding into form.

    The same can't be said for the power play, which was once No. 1 in the NHL but has fallen to No. 7 during a dismal six-week period. The Flyers are just 5 for 44 on the PP in their last nine games. That won't cut it in the playoffs. 

   And they allowed three PP goals today against a team that ranks No. 28 in the league.

   Another disturbuing trend: Opponents have scored first against the Flyers in six of the last seven games.

   The Flyers will try to rebound Tuesday when they play the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in Detroit.

    Yes, it will be a good measuring stick to see if the Flyers are Cup contenders. Biron will be back in the net.

    For the Flyers, the difference between a win and a loss tonight came down to special teams.

    And a costly turnover.

    And Alex Ovechkin.

   Make that Oh!-vechkin.

   The reigning MVP had a goal, an assist and 12 shots _ eight on goal _ as the Washington Capitals defeated the Flyers, 2-1, in a game that had a playoff feel to it.

    The Flyers were 0 for 4 on the power play; the Caps were 1 for 2.

   In a game in which the Flyers won 67 percent of the faceoffs and managed 36 shots, Washington still had several better scoring chances. The Caps had "only" 30 shots, but because of the irrepressible Ovechkin, they seemed to be buzzing around goalie Marty Biron for most of the night.

   On what turned out to be the game-winner, Alexander Semin intercepted Darroll Powe's pass behind the net and fed Ovechkin in the slot for a goal with 2:41 left in the middle period.

“It’s one of those plays where the one guy on their side (Semin) kind of  anticipated it pretty good, and as I’m trying to turn....you know something's not working right behind the net _ and I can see a census trying to come back the other way," Biron said. "And as I’m trying to guard the post, the puck is already in front of the net. You know it’s a tic-tac-toe play. It sucks because we played a pretty solid game. Made a couple mistakes here and there, but they did, too. I think if we play like that _ with that energy; we threw almost 20 shots in that (second) period at the goal  _ we are going to get a lot more wins than losses.”

   The Flyers are 2-2 on their season-high five-game homestand, which concludes with Saturday's game against the Rangers.

.

   It looks as if forward Danny Briere will be in the lineup Thursday as John Stevens tries to reach a coaching milestone.

   Stevens will be trying to win his 100th career game wen the Flyers host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. About 450 tickets remain.

   After today's practice in Voorhees, Stevens _ who has a 99-90-32 record in two-plus seasons _ said there was a "good chance" Briere will return to the lineup Thursday. He re-injured his groin last Thursday in a 5-1 loss to Calgary and has played in just 12 games this season.

   Goalie Marty Biron, who has been sharp in recent action, will make his third straight start tomorrow.

   The Flyers also said Randy Cote's upper-body injury was minor and that they expect him to play tomorrow.

   For several weeks, Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki have been in a friendly battle for the Flyers' No. 1 goalie spot.

   And every time it looks like Niittymaki is about to emerge as the team's go-to guy, he comes out flat. (See Thursday's four-goal first period against Calgary.)

    That's opened things for Biron, and the 31-year-old veteran has taken advantage. He was superb in a two-period relief appearance against Calgary _ allowing one goal in 22 shots _ and last night he was sharp again in a 4-1 win over Nashville.

    That surely figures to earn him a start Tuesday against his former club, Buffalo.

     Biron has lowered his GAA to 2.79 and raised his save percenatge to .912.

   With just 18 games left in the regular season, the Flyers hope he is heating up just in time.

    By the way, if the season ended last night, the Flyers would face Florida in the first round.  The Flyers have split a pair of close decisions with the Panthers this season, scoring a 3-2 shoot-out win and dropping a 3-2 decision. Both games were in Florida.

* * * * * * * 

    Joffrey Lupul is relieved the trade deadline has gone and he's still a Flyer.

    To show his relief, he scored his 19th and 20 goals in Saturday's win over Nashville.

    Lupul said the fact his name was mentioned in trade talks didn't affect his play, but he conceded, "I was a little bit nervous that (trade-dealine) day, but on the ice you’re still playing the game. You’re playing to win. It doesn’t matter if there are rumors or not, so I don’t think that was a big factor in the couple of goals" Saturday.

     "I’m happy to still be here, but the whole time I was thinking I was still going to be here," he said. "It wasn’t like my mindset was I’m already out of town, so obviously I’m happy it’s over, past and (I) look forward to the stretch here. The playoffs, it’s an exciting time of year.”

    * * * * * * 

  Jeff Carter once was on pace to become the seventh player in Flyers history to score 50 goals in a season.

  But Carter has struggled recently and needs 14 goals in 18 games to reach the milestone. He leads the Flyers with 36 goals but has just two goals in his last 12 games.

  The Flyers who have reached 50 in a season: Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber, Reggie Leach, Tim Kerr, Mark Recchi and John LeClair.

    Danny Briere’s latest groin injury, suffered in Thursday’s 5-1 loss to Calgary, is not as severe as first feared.
    The Flyers’ center was examined by Dr. William Meyers today and, according to Briere, could play as early as Tuesday against visiting Buffalo.
    When he met with reporters yesterday, Briere was all smiles.
   “It’s a big relief this morning, no doubt about it,” Briere said. “It wasn’t as bad as we thought last night. I had a little workout this morning and I’m hoping to get back on the ice (Saturday) skating.”
   Briere doesn’t expect to play Saturday night against Nashville, “but after that, anything is possible. It’s day to day after that.”
    That means he could return Tuesday.
    The news lifted the spirits of a Flyers team that is reeling, having lost three of their last four games after some roster-juggling necessitated by their salary cap.
    “When you see Danny coming back, you get the sense that we have a full healthy club,” goalie Marty Biron said after today's practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. “And then you see him go down again in a game where nothing is going right. It’s tough. It was a downer after the game to know he had a setback, and to get that (news) this morning is a positive thing.”
    This season, Meyers has performed two surgeries on Briere, who on Thursday played in just his third game since Dec. 2. He has played in only 12 games this season.
    According to Briere, Meyers told him “adhesions broke (Thursday) and there’s internal bleeding. He saw swelling. He also told me it wasn’t abnormal. Everybody’s body reacts to surgery and to adhesions differently, but he’s seen this before and he said most guys go through ups and downs, but it’s just a little downer right now and hopefully within a couple days I’ll be back playing.”
     “Hopefully, it’s good news,” coach John Stevens said. “We won’t know until time goes by.”
    The Flyers are 3-6-3 with Briere in the lineup (1-5-3 when he has played a full game), but that stat is misleading because it includes the 0-3-3 start _ when all the players had awful numbers.
     They are 31-13-7 without him.
     Briere left Thursday’s contest late in the second period, but he re-aggravated his groin in the opening period.
    “It started earlier in the game and it just kept tightening up,” Briere said. “You know how it is. Being down 4-0 after the first period, I didn’t want to leave the guys and say, ‘I can’t play anymore.’ And honestly, I thought it was just a little bit of tightness and would get better as the game went on, but it just kept getting worse and worse.”
     In his first few second-period shifts, Briere said, “I had a hard time taking off. I would go in the corner, and I had a hard time just fighting for the puck because I was just trying to protect it (his groin), and by the end of the second period, I had no strength left on that side.”
    As he went into the dressing room Thursday, “I was thinking I probably tweaked it and it’ll probably be another two to four weeks,” Briere said. “That was my initial reaction, but I’m not a doctor, so what I learned this morning was a big relief.”
    Before he returned Sunday against New Jersey, Briere said there was no thought of going to the Phantoms to test his groin _ like he did after an earlier injury.
    “I think I can protect it a little more when I play with the Phantoms, but I wanted to see how it is when I go all out,” he said, adding he wasn’t disappointed he didn’t do another rehab assignment before rejoining the Flyers because “I don’t think it would have given me all the answers.”
    Breakaways. Biron, who will start Saturday, played solidly in a two-period relief stint Thursday. “I think hopefully it’s a confidence booster,” Stevens said….The Flyers called up forward Andreas Nodl from the Phantoms. He played on the fourth line with Darroll Powe and Riley Cote at yesterday’s practice, while Claude Giroux centered the third line with newcomer Daniel Carcillo and Arron Asham....Unofficially, the Flyers are $750,000 under the $56.7 million cap, which is slightly lower than the $900,000 figure GM Paul Holmgren gave on Wednesday.
Contact staff writer Sam Carchidi at 215-854-5181 or scarchidi@phillynews.com.