Inside the Flyers: How Flyers can finish off their playoff push

RALEIGH, N.C. - To their credit, the left-for-dead Flyers have climbed back into the Eastern Conference playoff hunt by straightening out their penalty-killing problems and discovering a way to beat some of the NHL's elite teams.

But if they really want to show they are worthy contenders - as their recent 8-1-4 run suggests - they need to improve their even-strength play and figure out how to defeat some of the league's bottom-feeders, such as their next two opponents, Carolina and Toronto.

Since Dec. 29, the Flyers have faced 12 teams that are currently out of a playoff spot. They have just five wins in those games.

The Flyers, despite being without their top defenseman all season and their No. 1 goalie for a considerable amount of time, are just four points out of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot with 22 games remaining. Ten of those games are against teams that are not in playoff positions.

So if the Flyers are going to sneak into the postseason, they must play with the same sense of urgency against the weaklings as they did in a home weekend sweep of Nashville, the league's best team, and gifted Washington.

Jake Voracek, who had his first two-point game since Jan. 19 in Sunday's hard-earned 3-2 win over the Capitals, says it's sometimes more difficult to play a team that is going nowhere because it plays loose, has nothing to lose, and can take chances.

"Sometimes, those games are the worst because they play without nerves; they do more things on the ice than other teams would do," Voracek said. ". . . You've got to play good defensively every single game. Even if they play shotgun hockey, you have to make sure you stick to your system, and find a way to win games, 1-0 or 2-1."

"We've got to keep playing like we have been, especially this weekend," said defenseman Braydon Coburn, who helped shut down superstar Alex Ovechkin in the win over the Capitals. "I thought there were large stretches where we really controlled the play. We have to do that away from home and against these two teams. For us, to start quick and really come out hard is the key."

The Flyers have scored the first goal in nine of the last 11 games. That's a major turnaround for a team that had scored first in just 17 of the first 49 games.

That, along with a much-improved penalty kill, has pushed them back into the playoff race. The Flyers are still a dismal 28th out of 30 teams in penalty-kill success (76.5 percent), but they have killed an impressive 34 of 38 (89.5 percent) in their last 13 games.

If they get similar improvement in five-on-five play (20th in the NHL), the Flyers can stay in the race in the last seven weeks, especially with starting goalie Steve Mason getting closer to returning. Coach Craig Berube has juggled the lines (again), hoping to find the combinations that improve even-strength play. For the time being, he has split up his stars - Voracek and Claude Giroux - to get more balance and keep opponents from keying on one line.

In addition to being on the second line, Voracek has gotten some shifts on the fourth line as Berube tries to get matchup advantages.

Five years ago, the Flyers didn't qualify until the final day of the regular season, got hot at the right time, and carried the momentum to a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Not many reasonable people expect that to happen this season, but, hey, if you can't dream, what's the sense of playing the games?

"We were written off, but these guys won't quit," said Ed Snider, chairman of the Flyers' parent company, Comcast-Spectacor. "They won't give up."

And reinforcements are coming. In addition to Mason, heady defenseman Kimmo Timonen is on the verge of returning. Timonen has been sidelined by blood clots all season, and the Flyers hope it won't take long for him to return to form.

If he does and if Mason picks up where he left off - tied for fourth in the NHL in save percentage among fulltime goalies - the last seven weeks of the season could be interesting.

Let the dreaming begin.

@BroadStBull