Flyers aim to gain ground in games with Jackets, Sabres

COLUMBUS, Ohio - With their next four games against NHL lightweights Columbus and Buffalo, the Flyers have a chance to inch closer toward the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Columbus (23-26-3), which is 14th in the 16-team Eastern Conference, will be the tougher opponent. The Flyers are 1-1-1 against the Blue Jackets this season, and 1-0 against the Sabres (16-36-3), who are last in the NHL with 35 points.

"We can't worry about who we're playing or who other teams are playing," said captain Claude Giroux, whose team plays in Columbus on Friday and in Buffalo on Sunday. The two teams will visit the Wells Fargo Center next week. "All we can do is take care of ourselves. We just have to make sure we're playing the right way."

For the most part, the Flyers have done just that lately, putting together their best streak of the season. They have points in seven straight games (5-0-2) and have moved to within eight points of Boston for the final playoff spot.

Despite their recent surge, the Flyers, coming off a gut-wrenching 2-1 overtime loss in Montreal on Tuesday, figure to be sellers by the March 2 trade deadline. General manager Ron Hextall has said he wants to build through the draft, and the Flyers will likely try to add draft picks by dealing some veterans, opening room for some promising defensemen to be on the team next season.

The Flyers have several veteran defensemen who would help a contender, including Braydon Coburn, Nick Schultz, and Nick Grossmann. Schultz has been arguably the team's most consistent blue-liner.

Kimmo Timonen, 39, who is trying to return to the lineup later this month from blood clots, might also draw interest. Assuming Timonen is healthy, the Flyers might deal him to a contender and give him a chance to win his first Stanley Cup.

In a best-case scenario, Timonen stays with the Flyers if they are close to a playoff berth when he is ready to return.

The Flyers have a favorable schedule - after playing Columbus and Buffalo, seven of their next nine games are at home - and the players still believe they are legitimate playoff contenders.

In the overtime loss in Montreal, Ray Emery was sharp from the outset. He finished with 39 saves, his highest total in almost 13 months.

"He's pretty relaxed in the nets and he makes us pretty comfortable out there," Giroux said.

Giroux said the Flyers don't play any differently in front of Emery than they do with injured starter Steve Mason, who will be sidelined for two to three weeks.

"Everybody just focuses on what he has to do," Giroux said. "At this time of the year, everyone knows the system and how we want to play, whether it's Razor or Mase or whoever is in the net."

Coburn, sidelined since Jan. 14 with a fractured left foot, might return to the lineup Friday. The Flyers are 13-14-5 with Coburn in the lineup and 10-8-4 without him . . . . The Flyers have scored the first goal in the last five games, and the penalty kill has been successful on 21 of the last 23 shorthanded situations. . . . The Flyers are averaging about 3.4 goals per game when Emery plays. "I guess he's pretty good at setting us up for one-timers," Giroux cracked.