Flyers aren't cashing in on scoring opportunities

The Flyers have been outshooting and getting better chances than opponents recently, but their inability to finish the scoring opportunities is a major reason they are still five points behind Boston for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

The Flyers have left some critical points on the table, and they are in virtual must-win situations Thursday against powerful St. Louis at the Wells Fargo Center and Saturday afternoon in Boston, which has two games in hand.

In their last five losses - to Columbus, Buffalo, Carolina, Toronto, and Calgary - the Flyers have had a lopsided shots advantage in four of the games.

"I think sometimes we don't generate enough traffic with the shots," coach Craig Berube said Wednesday after practice in Voorhees. "Goalies make saves when they see the puck. We need to do a better job of getting some traffic and bringing more deflections and rebounds around the net."

Six games ago, Berube split up his two stars, center Claude Giroux and right winger Jake Voracek. Voracek was dropped to the second line with Matt Read and Sean Couturier, while Wayne Simmonds moved to the top line alongside Giroux and Michael Raffl.

The moves haven't kick-started the attack.

In those six games, Giroux's line has a total of four goals (one at even strength), excluding an empty-netter, while Couturier's line has two goals.

Berube plans to keep Giroux and Voracek on different lines Thursday against Ken Hitchcock's Blues (40-18-5), who average three goals per game, fifth in the NHL. The Flyers are 22d, averaging 2.61 goals per game.

"I like what I've seen," Berube, who has reunited his two all-stars on a handful of shifts recently, said of his new lines.

Voracek, whose line had a goal disallowed by a controversial call in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary, feels the Couturier-centered unit is starting to build chemistry.

"Even if we don't score, we're playing well. We're playing against top lines, usually," he said. "We're skating way better than we did the first two games when we got together."

Defenseman Radko Gudas, acquired along with first- and third-round draft picks in the deal that sent Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay, is healing after knee surgery; is expecting his first child (a girl) in two weeks; and is being reunited with his longtime friend from the Czech Republic, Jake Voracek. "I'm happy to be on a team that wants me," said Gudas, who hopes to skate before the end of the regular season. . . . Berube strongly hinted that winger Zac Rinaldo will return to the lineup Thursday. That means Vinny Lecavalier, who has not scored a goal in his last 21 games, will likely be a healthy scratch.