Struggling virtually every game to find consistency, they somehow managed to hold onto the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference while Buffalo, Toronto and Washington nipped at their skate blades.

As of yesterday morning, the Flyers had become the hunters. They were seventh overall with 88 points, one behind the sixth-seeded Rangers and three behind the fourth-seeded Devils.

"We were the hunted for a while and the focus was on us," coach John Stevens said before Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden.

"Now Boston has been pulled into that group. The Rangers have been pulled into that group. There's a big group. We're not by ourselves as the hunted anymore. It's changed."

What has changed is that the Bruins have pretty much done whatever they can to take themselves out of the lead pack, dropping to eighth, two points behind the Flyers. The Washington Capitals, who have the easiest schedule among playoff hopefuls, are within striking distance of Southeast Division leader Carolina with 84 points as the ninth seed.

The Flyers no longer are looking over their shoulders, so much as looking ahead to see if they can enhance their playoff chances with a better seed.

Be realistic. The Flyers' chances of beating either Montreal or New Jersey in the first round aren't that good. It's hard to get a read on the Penguins because the Flyers owned them early but not recently.

Ideally, if the Flyers could finish sixth and play the Southeast Division winner, they could greatly enhance their chances of advancing into the second round.

"We have been able to win some hockey games, we've done a lot of good things as a team, we've got our team speed back where we're really getting after the puck," Stevens said. "Part of that is confidence, part of it is the [recent] success we've had as a group. We're gaining confidence through this stretch. Our team game has been as good as it's been for a while."

The Flyers are relatively healthy. Yes, Joffrey Lupul is playing with a bad ankle, but it hasn't seemed to affect his energy or skill on the ice. On defense, the team is still missing Derian Hatcher (broken leg) and Randy Jones (hip flexor).

Hatcher is questionable for a first-round playoff return. The good news is that the Flyers now know they can win if the commitment is there - and if the goaltending is sound. Marty Biron gave up one bad goal Tuesday, then was outstanding the rest of the way, giving the Flyers a chance. And that's what a team needs this time of year.

After a 7-1 loss to Pittsburgh on March 16, the Flyers spoke in terms of if they made the playoffs. Now they speak of when they get to the playoffs. That's what four straight victories can do for a team that finally has across-the-board, balanced scoring on all lines.

"Going into the playoffs, that will be the strength of our team," Lupul said. "It's not like we have a go-to guy. It's someone different every night. A different line does it. Three lines are capable of scoring two, three goals on any given night. That's kind of what we do."

Stevens is playing with set lines right now, making minimal changes.

"All eyes were on us because we were the eighth seed," Stevens said. "With that comes the added pressure of dealing with guys coming in and out of the lineup [because of injury]. We were just starting to get our lines settled down.

"The way our lines were set up, it started to have continuity game to game, and each line was growing in confidence. I think our team gained confidence with each point and win we picked up along the way. We need to keep this streak going. We've been a team of streaks. I just see this team playing well and handling adversity well and coming out on top."

The question could be, how far on top.