BUFFALO _ Late last month, this space said goalie Marty Biron needed to step up, needed to win some games on his own to help get the Flyers out of their doldrums.

Consider it done.

The Flyers weren't brilliant last night.

Biron was.

The 31-year-old goalie made 40 saves and nothced his 24th career shutout, defeating hios former club, Buffalo, 3-0.

Biron was coming off a superb effort in a 2-1 win in Montreal.

After a rocky first few weeks, Biron has regained the form he displayed in carrying the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals last season.

Truth be told, the Flyers were just so-so tonight; they didn't have many scoring chances and they gave Buffalo far too many opportunities.

But Biron saved the night. Literally.

Look for John Stevens to stay with his hot goalie Saturday night against visiting Phoenix.

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   I've received a lot of e-mails from folks who wondered why I referred to Joffrey Lupul as "Vanilla Thunder" in Friday's Inquirer.

   I guess I'm getting older than I realized. I figured most people would get the reference, but younger readers apparently never heard of  "Chocolate Thunder." That would be former 76er Darryl Dawkins, who was known for breaking glass backboards with his thunderous dunks.

So when Lupul shattered the glass with a slap shot during practice the other day, he became "Vanilla Thunder."

   Actually, he was given the label by Delco Times sports editor Rob Parent, who mentioned it in the press room. I told him I liked it and asked him if I could steal it. "All yours," he said.

  Despite the readers' puzzlement, I STILL like it.

_ Sam Carchidi

The news was mixed on the Flyers’ injury front today.

Center Danny Briere (groin) skated for about 40 minutes before practice and did not sound optimistic about returning on Friday in Buffalo.
Defenseman Ossi Vaananen (finger) took part in practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, but is even more of a long shot to return for either game this weekend.
The most positive news came from enforcer Riley Cote, who is recovering nicely from a mild muscle tear in his left side, suffered during a warmup routine Nov. 6 in Ottawa. He practiced yesterday and coach John Stevens expects the winger to be able to return Nov. 29 in Toronto, the first game he is eligible to come off the long-term injury list.
“It kills me watching the games,” Cote said. “Just the way the injury happened is kind of embarrassing. It’s one of those freak things and just something you have to deal with it and come back stronger.”
Darroll Powe, recovering from a mild concussion, also returned to practice yesterday. He replaced Jared Ross, who was sent down to the AHL Phantoms.
Briere, who has five goals in eight games, hopes to be able to practice with the club on Thursday.
This injury, he said, is “more frustrating” than the abdominal surgery that sidelined him earlier in the season. “With the surgery, every day I came to the rink I could do something more than the day before,” he said. “The improvement from day to day was huge. With the groin, it’s frustrating….You’re sitting there two or three days without improvement.”
If he is able to practice Thursday without complications, “I might be able to play (Friday), but at the same time, if there’s a setback or it doesn’t improve, there’s no sense risking it _ even though it’s Buffalo (his former club) and I’d like to be in the lineup,”
Briere said.
As for Vaananen, he missed four games after having surgery on his right index finger, then tore the stitches in the finger Thursday in his first game back. He skated but avoided contact yesterday.
“Maybe we learned something,” Vaananen said. “Hopefully, we’ll let it heal properly so we won’t have any setbacks.”
Vaananen said “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist” to figure out he came back too soon.
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Breakaways.

The Flyers have as many shorthanded goals (8) as Florida and New Jersey had on the power play entering tonight…..The Flyers will not practice Wednesday and will return to the Skate Zone tomorrow in preparation for Friday’s game in Buffalo. Marty Biron (3.13 goals-against average) will be in goal for the Flyers Friday.
_ Sam Carchidi

     MONTREAL - No one in the Flyers' dressing room would call their 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens tonight their most impressive performance of the season.

     So I will.

     Goalie Marty Biron mentioned the Flyers' 7-0 victory over Atlanta last month as their best game.

    I disagree. Atlanta isn't Montreal. The Canadiens have the ability to win the Stanely Cup. By then, Atlanta will have been on the golf course for a month or so.

    Biron (24 saves) was superb tonight. So was the team. They had just 10 giveaways (8 fewer than the Habs) and they spent a majority of the first two periods in Montreal's end.

    The Flyers went into a semi-defensive shell for parts of the third period, but they survived. And they easily killed a late power play, not allowing Montreal to sniff a scoring opportunity.

    John Stevens changed the defensive pairings, moving Braydon Coburn with Matt Carle. Tonight, they looked like the Flyers' best defensive unit. They combined for nine blocked shots. Coburn played a team-high 27:31, while Carle played 25:17, the team's second-highest figure.

    Glen Metropolit also deserves mention; he set up several chances and played his best game as a Flyer.

   Stevens tinkered with the lines, too. He had Mike Richards on the first line with Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble.

    Scotty Upshall scored for the first time in 10 games and Jeff Carter added his 11th goal for the Flyhers (6-6-4), who should go over the .500 mark Sunday when they face Atlanta. If they win, it will be their first time over .500 this season.

Can defenseman Matt Carle solve the problems plaguing the 4-5-3 Flyers?

We'll see.

Carle was acquired from Tampa Bay last night, along with a third-round draft selection, for enigmatic winger Steve Downie, improving defenseman Steve Eminger and a fourth-round pick.

From here, the Flyers should have received more _ say, a second-round pick thrown into the mix.

Many long-time observers think the Flyers did well.

Again, we'll see.

Carle has slipped dramatically from his superb rookie season (11 goals, 31 assists, plus-9) with San Jose.  He was healthy lat year, but managed just two goals and 13 assists and was minus-8 with the Sharks. The slump caused him to be taken off the power play.

This year, he couldn't get untracked, either (one goal and one assist in 12 games), and the Tampa media said he was a defensive liability.

He is an upgrade in that he can rush the puck, a quality the Flyers need.

But the price was steep. The 6-2, 215-pound Eminger, after a shaky start, adjusted to the system and was playing steadily lately. He gave the club their only righthanded defenseman and he was playing on the power play recently. Eminger was criticized because he fell down and it led to a breakaway against Ottawa Thursday, but he was plus-five in his last six games. For the season, he was even in the plus-minus rankings. (The 6-foot, 205-pound Carle was plus-1).

Downie is the wild card. Yes, he's been disappointing. Yes, he took too many ill-advised penalties. But the former No. 1 draft pick has loads of potential; he was slowed by an injury early in the season and never got into a rhythm with the Flyers as he was yo-yo-ed back and forth to the Phantoms. He had a total of six assists in his last two AHL games before the deal.

The trade will be viewed differently IF it helps the Flyers _ who are about $818,000 under the cap _ find a way to sign free-agent winger Brendan Shanahan. The deal opened a spot for the Flyers, whose roster is now down to 49 _ one below the maximum.

Stay tuned.

   After the Flyers' 4-1 loss in Ottawa tonight, defenseman Kimmo Timonen said free-agent winger Brendan Shanahan may be be the solution for what ails the 4-5-3 club.

     “I don’t think we are where we wanted to be,” he said. “You start looking around the room and see if we can improve some way. Maybe he’s the key to do something for us _ leadership or whatever….(General manager Paul) Holmgren is trying to find something to help us.”

      The smooth-passing Senators, who had an early goal disallowed (kicked in), scored two goals about five minutes apart and built a 2-0 lead in a dominating first period in which they outshot the Flyers, 13-3.

    Anton Volchenkov scored on a drive from the top of the right circle to put the Senators ahead with 11:11 left in the period.

    Thirty-two seconds after Braydon Coburn’s five-minute penalty, Jason Spezza fired a perfect pass in the goal mouth to Dany Heatley, who had position on Lasse Kukkonen and backhanded a shot past Antero Niittymaki.

    The Flyers, after getting their first sustained offensive surge of the night, got to within 2-1 on Arron Asham’s first goal as a Flyer _ and first in 34 games. Asham picked up a loose puck and scored from the left circle with 12:42 left in the second period.

    The momentum lasted all of 56 seconds. That’s how long it took Jesse Winchester to take a pass out front and squirt a shot through Niittymaki’s pads for the first goal of his NHL career, giving the Senators a 3-1 lead. They added a late empty-net goal.

  * * * * 

   The official scoresheet had Riley Cote playing one shift and 56 seconds. Cote, however, said he never played. The winger suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury in warmups.

  * * * *

   The Flyers have allowed the first goal in all five of their regulation losses. 

   "We have to start setting the tone," defenseman Steve Eminger said.

   If they don't, it could be a rocky road.

    Contact staff writer Sam Carchidi at scarchidi@phillynews.com.

Though it' seems like a longshot, the Flyers are trying to sign free-agent winger Brendan Shanahan, who is being courted by the Devils and Blues, among others.

   Shanahan, 39, who has scored 680 career goals, had a lengthy discussion with Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren today.

Holmgren lauded Shanahan’s efforts as a two-way player and noted that his defense would help the Flyers.
“He gets it,” the general manager said.
Holmgren said he never discussed salary with Shanahan, who scored 23 goals with the Rangers last season. With the Flyers only about $700,000 under the NHL’s $56.7 million cap, the Flyers would have to be creative to sign Shanahan _ even if he signed for a bargain-basement price of, say, $1 million.
“It’s just very exploratory, on Brendan’s part and on our part,” Holmgren said. “But if you have an opportunity to add a good player who doesn’t cost you any assets, you have to look into it. He’s an experienced player and has been on three Stanley Cup champions and his presence on the ice and in the locker room would be invaluable.”

Stay tuned.

* * * * *

Gagne honored. The NHL named left winger Simon Gagne the league’s third star of the week after he totaled three goals and five assists in three games. “It is always flattering and fun being recognized, especially with me coming back from a tough injury last year and being able to play again,” said Gagne, who missed most of last season because of a concussion. 
  Gagne has scored eight goals for the season, placing him in a tie for fourth in the league entering tonight.

 Asked if he felt 100 percent healthy, Gagne said: “I don’t know. The more I play, the more I will get comfortable and be able to be more of myself. But right now, I have to say I am feeling pretty good. I am very happy the way things are going. I am getting better and better, and more comfortable. ....I am getting close — there is still room for improvement. Last week, I really started to get that feeling I used to have when I was playing at my best.”
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Sharing his past. Center Glen Metropolit read stories aloud and discussed how he overcame challenges — such as growing up in foster care in underprivileged neighborhoods — with children from the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia’s homework program yesterday.
He also emphasized the importance of education, literacy and involvement.
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Breakaways. The Flyers reassigned forwards Steve Downie and Jared Ross to the Phantoms. Both were scoreless this season. … Entering tonight, Jeff Carter was tied for second in the NHL with nine goals…..Marty Biron’s 3.79 goals-against average is 39th in the league….A bright spot Sunday: The Flyers won 66 percent of their faceoffs _ the second time all season they had outdrawn their opponents….Andreas Nodl (lower-body injury), Ossi Vaananen (upper-body injury), and Darroll Powe (slight concussion) are day-to-day.

Contact staff writer Sam Carchidi at 215-854-5181 or scarchidi@phillynews.com. Read his Flyers blog, Broad Street Bull, at http://www.philly.com/phillyblogs/inqflyersreport.