Flyers Notes

If the Flyers think they face daunting odds to beat the Penguins, perhaps they should talk to assistant coach Joe Mullen.

In 1992, during Game 2 of the Patrick Division finals, the New York Rangers' Kris King took out Mullen's knee while Adam Graves broke Mario Lemieux's hand with a slash. Mullen missed the rest of the playoffs and Lemieux missed parts of them, yet the Penguins rallied to win that series, then beat Chicago for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

"Mario came back quick, and guys like Ronnie Francis stepped it up," Mullen recalled. "We knew we were in a battle against the Rangers, and we rallied around that. Our players didn't get depressed. They rallied around what happened. We took that series and went on to win the Cup."

After yesterday's morning skate, the Flyers didn't seem devastated to be without Kimmo Timonen. They lost Mike Knuble in the first round against Washington to a torn hamstring and overcame his absence.

"I'm not going to lie - Kimmo is a big part of our team," center Danny Briere said. "But we've lost some key players before and were able to fight through it. That has to be the same way. Even if we feel sorry about ourselves, it's not going to take us anywhere anyway, so we might as well try to . . . get our energy up and find a way to battle through it. That's the way we see it."

Timonen accompanied Flyers president Peter Luukko on chairman Ed Snider's private plane to the game last night. Timonen is offering the team what assistance he can off the ice.

His injury meant Jaroslav Modry went back into the lineup and Randy Jones moved to the power-play unit.

"Jonesy has good vision with the puck," coach John Stevens said. "He sees the ice really well. He can distribute the puck, get it to the net when the lanes are there. Hopefully, he can be a nice fit there. If not, [Braydon] Coburn can go there.

"And Jonesy has been a second-unit power-play guy all year. But I think Jonesy has the skill set and the vision with the puck that hopefully he can step in there and do some of the things up top that Kimmo was able to do."

Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby said Timonen's absence wouldn't affect the Penguins' strategy.

"I think we come with a lot of pressure typically, and that's not going to change because he's out," Crosby said. "So I think we kind of go about the same things. Obviously, that's a loss for them. But at the same time, we're a prime example of when guys go down, other guys can step up."

Derian Hatcher moved back with Coburn, who had been Timonen's partner. Hatcher and Coburn spent much of the season as a pair.

"Obviously, Kimmo's a huge part of the team, and he has been all year - power play, the penalty kill and five-on-five," Hatcher said. "So it's going to be tough to replace. But we're in the series. We're starting the series tonight. We have the attitude we can win this series. We had it with him, and we have it now."

Cote's cousin

Riley Cote may be no angel, and certainly not a Hells Angel. Sean Wolfe, his cousin in Winnipeg, is, and Cote's MySpace page has a link to his cousin. That was big news yesterday in the Winnipeg Sun.

Cote, the Flyers' enforcer, wasn't happy the story broke, because he has made it known that he is very different from his cousin. For one, Cote is actively involved in local charities with the Flyers.

"He's my cousin, he's family, what do you want me to do?" Cote said. "I can't change anything. I support him. It's not me. I don't know why people made an issue of this. And why do I hear about this now in the Stanley Cup playoffs? He chose one path; I chose another. That's a perfect example of people choosing their own destiny. I could have easily followed that and didn't."

Mayors' wager

Mayor Nutter and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl placed their bets on the series. Under the terms of the wager, whichever city loses must fly the winning team's banner while the mayor wears the winner's jersey for a day. Also, the mayor from the losing city must travel to a hockey game at the winning team's city next season and drop the ceremonial puck at a game wearing that club's jersey.

"While it amuses me that I'm even entertaining the thought that the Pens might not continue on to the Stanley Cup Finals, out of respect to my lesser counterpart in Philadelphia, I enter this wager," Ravenstahl said. "I'm sure Mayor Nutter will look great in a Pens jersey."

Loose pucks

Swedish star Fabian Brunnstrom, whom the Flyers and a dozen or so other clubs were pursuing, signed with the Dallas Stars. The 23-year-old forward was an unrestricted free agent.

-Tim Panaccio