Flyers Notes: Laviolette is praising Zherdev's play and dedication

BUFFALO - After being banished to Peter Laviolette's doghouse for most of the season, winger Nik Zherdev finally has become one of the coach's, um, pets.

After Friday's morning skate in Buffalo, the Flyers coach sang Zherdev's praises. Honest.

"The last three games, he's been one of our better players," said Laviolette, whose team faced the Sabres in the next-to-last regular-season game Friday night. "Regardless of how our team has played, he's been good. Even the last game in Ottawa, he started a little bit slow in the first period, but he got better as the game went on. The second period, I didn't like our game very much, but I thought he was good. So there's some real positives."

The 26-year-old winger had a goal and two assists in his last three games before Friday.

Zherdev has been a healthy scratch in 26 games this season, including 12 straight late in the year. He entered Friday with 16 goals in 54 games, and his recent play has earned him a regular spot on the team's power play.

In late February, Zherdev was placed on waivers and his Flyers career appeared to be over. No one claimed him, but the Flyers decided not to send him to the minors and he eventually worked his way back into the lineup on Feb. 25. After playing in four more games, he sat for the next 12.

"You watched the way he was practicing and his attitude and the way he was working out off the ice," Laviolette said. "He got himself into good conditioning, good shape, [and had] a positive attitude. I think ever since he went through waivers and came back, he's been working hard. It's a credit to him, really. There's a couple of ways you can go down that road, and he went down the right road . . . and now he's back in the lineup, and he's getting the opportunity, and he looks good out there."

And, stunningly, it looks as if he will continue to get the opportunity in the playoffs.

Center Blair Betts, the Flyers' penalty-killing leader, missed Friday's game because of a sore knee and probably won't play Saturday night against the New York Islanders, general manager Paul Holmgren said.

Holmgren said that Betts was sitting out as a precaution and that he would have played had it been a playoff game Friday.

Holmgren hopes that injured defenseman Chris Pronger is ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, which probably will be played Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center: "Chris being as snarly as he's been is a good sign," Holmgren said. . . . The Flyers conclude their regular season against the Islanders on Saturday night. The Flyers are 25-11-5 on the road and 21-12-7 at home. They have lost six straight at home, where their last win was a 4-1 victory over Edmonton on March 8. . . . Jody Shelley was among the Flyers who were healthy scratches Friday. . . . In a pregame ceremony, several former Sabres were saluted as part of the franchise's 40th anniversary celebration. Among those honored: Don Luce, the Flyers' director of player development.

- Sam Carchidi