Flyers’ two-game win streak has Biron back as No. 1 goalie

When the Flyers face the Islanders this afternoon, Marty Biron will be in net for his third start in a row.

Earlier this season, that would not have been unusual, as Biron was the No. 1 goalie. But as the Flyers fell into aslump, Antero Niittymaki began getting more than an occasional start and even looked for a time as if he would take Biron's job.

But now, as the Flyers head into the stretch run and their final 18 games, it is looking again as if the job is Biron's, even if coach John Stevens won't say that.

"We've been rotating more with the schedule, but we're hoping that someone is going to take the bull by the horns now," Stevens said when pressed on the subject. "We need one of them to become our best player every night.

"We've got a back-to-back situation on the weekend and we haven't managed that well. But I want to see someone step up and grab the ball. When you lose 10 in a row, it's hard to settle on one goalie. You're trying to find something to spark your team, and if you go on a winning streak and a goalie gets hot, you've got to ride him."

And that is one thing Biron has in his favor. The Flyers have won their last two games, one a convincing win over Ottawa on Thursday night, the other a comeback win in Buffalo on Monday. Biron was in the net for both.

Stevens said he was playing Biron today but would not commit to whom he would play in New York against the Rangers tomorrow.

Biron said yesterday his focus is on the game in front of him instead of who plays in the playoffs. But the reality is he did not sign in Philadelphia to be a backup.

"I don't think it's our priority to think that way right now," he said. "Our priority is to get out there and win games. We have a lot of hockey to go. The same way as [Thursday night], we got a big goal by Jimmy Dowd, a great play by their line, we're going to use a lot of players and it's going to be the same thing on defense and with the goalies."

But does he want the job?

"Personally, for me, I want to go out and do what I did [Thursday]. Go out and get to the top of the crease and make myself look big and make the saves I have to make, because I feel that's when I'm at my best, and when I'm at my best, we have the best chance to win.

"That's what I'm looking at, but we don't want to make a whole issue about it, because we shouldn't be focused on picking goalies, but on picking wins."

Niittymaki has been good for the Flyers this season and was good when Biron was not. But he understands the game and the situation, and is not concerned.

"There was a rotation for a while and even a couple of weeks ago, I played back-to-back," he said. "But we lost a lot of games and when you win a couple, it's tough to change the lineup. I don't know where it goes from here.

"I don't think about it," Niittymaki said. "The situation has been clear to me all year long except for a while when I played a couple of games, other than that I'm just doing what I'm doing and go from there."

Snap shots

Jaroslav Modry, who has a bruised rotator cuff, skated at practice yesterday, but will not play this weekend. He is a possibility for games next week...Joffrey Lupul, out with a high-ankle sprain, skated by himself yesterday, but is still out for at least another week. *