Claude Giroux channels Chris Pronger as Flyers resume playoff hunt

BOSTON - Claude Giroux is channeling his inner Chris Pronger in order to get the Flyers to regroup from a painful 4-2 loss in Toronto on Thursday.

Giroux, of course, is the Flyers captain. Pronger, now retired, is one of their former captains.

"We have to do the best we can to put it behind us. We had our chances," said Giroux, who led a furious third-period onslaught in which the Flyers fired 20 shots and came close to tying the game before Toronto iced the win with an empty-net goal.

When it came to moving past a loss, "the best at it was Chris Pronger," Giroux said, recalling how the big defenseman would spar, good-naturedly, with the media after a defeat - and how it left an impression on him as a young player. "We'd be in the playoffs and he'd be in the room and he'd already turned the page and everybody's looking at him like, 'What's wrong with this guy?' That's the kind of mentality we need right now. Whether you lose or you win, you need to be able to turn the page as quick as you can and focus on the next opponent."

That would be Boston on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. The Bruins (76 points) are in a playoff spot - they sit third in the Atlantic Division - while the Flyers (70 points) are five points behind the Islanders (75), who hold the Eastern Conference's last wild-card spot.

The Flyers need to climb over three teams to get into the playoffs.

"It's good stress, I think," Giroux said of the Flyers' quest to duplicate last year's playoff run. "It's really exciting. Obviously, it's frustrating when you don't get the wins and kind of put yourself back in that position, but there's a lot of hockey left to be played here. The last game, you're frustrated and you're kind of looking at the big picture and [how] it's going to be harder to get back in. But you know what? At the end of the day you just have to win some hockey games and you'll be back in that position."

Saturday's matinee is against a Boston team that has outshot the Flyers by a combined 86-45 in their two meetings. The Flyers won a 3-2 shootout on Nov. 29, thanks to Steve Mason's brilliant play. Boston shelled Michal Neuvirth in the Jan. 14 rematch, 6-3.

"Every game for us is basically a must-win from now on," Giroux said. "We need to embrace that and kind of have fun doing that."

Giroux had six shots and an assist Thursday.

"I felt pretty good. I had that jump again and being able to jump on pucks and make plays," said Giroux, one of the Flyers who spoke to the team Friday, reminding his teammates to stay upbeat in the season's last 16 games. "It was too bad we couldn't tie it up there at the end. . . . Our chances were there. In the third period, it was obviously our best period and we need to play 60 minutes like that."

Mason will start Saturday. He had played four straight games - going 3-0-1 with a 1.45 goals-against average and .945 save percentage - before Neuvirth got the call Thursday and was shaky early.

Mason is ready for the stretch run.

"I feel fine. I've only played 45 or so games. I work hard all summer to manage a heavy workload," he said. "As long as you're not starting 20 games in a row, you should be fine. Four, five games in a row isn't that big a deal for me."

The Bruins have been on a roll.

"With the coaching change, they have played well, they've responded to it," Mason said, mindful the Bruins are 9-3 since Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien. "We definitely have to be ready for a fast start. This isn't a team you want to fall far behind on."

Breakaways. The Flyers' penalty kill has allowed five goals in 10 chances over the last three games. "We've had one piece miss an assignment on probably our last five or six goals against," coach Dave Hakstol said. . . . Travis Konecny is expected to replace Nick Cousins on the third line Saturday

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