Ex-Flyer Streit returns with 'great team,' Penguins

Defenseman Mark Streit said it was "special" to return to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, but he added he was caught off guard by the trade that sent him from the Flyers to Tampa Bay and then quickly to Pittsburgh.

"But it's part of the business and I have a great opportunity with a great team," Streit said before his ex-team hosted the Penguins. "I'm excited and I'm going to embrace it as well; the transition was smooth."

On March 1, the Flyers traded Streit to Tampa Bay for Valtteri Filppula and fourth- and seventh-round draft picks. The Lightning then sent him to the Penguins for a fourth-rounder.

At first, Streit's agent told him that he had been dealt to the Lightning but that another move was coming.

"I knew something else was going to happen, but I didn't exactly know where it was going to be," Streit said. "I kind of had to wait, and then an hour later they said 'Pittsburgh,' so it was a crazy afternoon, for sure."

Streit, 39, who had four points in his first six games with the Penguins, has also played with Montreal and the New York Islanders in his career.

"It doesn't matter how many times you get traded, I think it's tough on the players," Streit said. "Maybe from the outside it looks easy, but for the players it's not."

To a man, all the young Flyers defensemen talked in glowing terms about how Streit was a mentor to them. He has that "professionalism, day in and day out," Brandon Manning said.

Streit, who spent three-plus seasons in Philadelphia, said he had a "great experience playing for the Flyers. A lot of young guys came up and they're doing well. It's a good feeling when you can help somebody in their careers."

Streit was injured blocking a shot Monday but was able to return to the lineup Wednesday.

Jake Voracek dropped down to the second power-play unit and Ivan Provorov went to the first unit Wednesday.

Entering the game, the Flyers were in a 2-for-26 power-play funk.

"I think when you put Jake on the other unit, you have two really good power plays," captain Claude Giroux said.

"Teams pre-scout, so it's good to throw something different at them," Provorov said.

Left winger Jordan Weal missed the game with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Nick Cousins on the top line. . . . Dale Weise returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous six games. A frustrated Weise acknowledged it was difficult to get into a rhythm with the way he has been used. "Mentally, it definitely wears on you when you're in and out like that," he said. . . . Manning, sidelined the last two games with what he called "nagging" injuries, said he was close to returning.