But the Flyers did it:

-- Fewer than 24 hours after stealing a 2-0

season-opening victory over Carolina about 500 miles away in Raleigh, N.C., with little sleep.

-- Against a fresh Devils team that had not

yet played a game.

-- In front of an excited, opening-night crowd

at the Prudential Center in Newark.

It is hard to imagine that the Flyers are not flying high with confidence right now.

But Flyers coach John Stevens doesn't seem to be worried about overconfidence heading into tomorrow night's home opener in front of what is sure to be a raucous and amped-up crowd at the Wachovia Center.

In fact, it is something he welcomes.

"You need to be successful to be confident," Stevens said. "We have only played two games. I really don't think we have anything to be overconfident about.

"There is no question that I'm really happy with our performance. We played two tough teams on back-to-back nights on the road. And we didn't give up a goal playing 5-on-5, which was one of our goals coming into the year."

Instead, Stevens thinks that the two wins this weekend were something that the Flyers - as a new group - can build on.

They're going to need to build on that success tomorrow, because this Washington team looks as if it could challenge for the Stanley Cup - much like the Flyers.

The Caps pounded a much-improved Toronto team on Saturday, holding a 6-1 edge at one point in front of a Hockey Night in Canada audience. They stunned Boston on the road, 4-1, last Thursday.

And Alex Ovechkin, building off his Hart Trophy-winning season, already has three goals in two games, despite being hawked by opposing defenses.

"Washington is playing really well," Stevens said. "Coming home, we've got to force ourselves to be ready."

They better be ready. It's only one game - the first of 41 at home. But few teams can deflate a building, and a season stoked with expectations, like Washington.