There is no denying that Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators was impressive.

Not only did Ray Emery best his former team, stopping 22-of-23 Sens shots, but the Flyers also buckled down in front of him defensively and capitalized on their chances in the third period. They have now won five games in succession.

The win was also important because the two points that they picked up help them inch closer to the top of the Atlantic division standings. Prior to Thursday’s win, the Flyers held a scant one point edge that separated them from the Islanders for last place.

Now, with 21 points, the Flyers (10-4-1) are tied with the Rangers for 3rd place. They gained ground on both the Rangers (5-3 loss to Atlanta) and Penguins (4-1 loss at home to the Devils).

The Devils (13-4-0) are in a league of their own, winning all 9 of their road games so far.

Here were last night’s 3 stars:

1. Danny Briere – Briere came back to the Flyers’ lineup after missing 16 days and 4 games and looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He added two key third period goals to break open the game and was involved in the thick of it all game. Briere is now second on the team in goals (7).

2. Jeff Carter – Carter, centering Briere and James van Riemsdyk, created scoring chances all night. He finished with 6 shots on goal and had two nice assists: one on Briere’s first goal and another on van Riemsdyk’s power play tally. He now leads the Flyers in scoring with 17 points, even though just 6 of them are goals.

3. Ray Emery – Emery stole all of the headlines heading into Thursday’s game. Everyone wanted to know if what the Flyers were saying about him was legit. He showed by he was one of the NHL’s premiere goalies before he had all of his off-the-ice issues. But last night, with the Flyers dominating at both ends of the ice, he didn’t need to be.

Did you notice?

• That the Flyers scored two power play goals on four tries, upping their league-best power play percentage to 27.9? Both goals game in the second period.
• That Oskars Bartulis made his NHL debut? He was a plus-1 in 17:18.
• That Chris Pronger now has posted an assist in five consecutive games?
• That the Flyers beat the Senators in the face-off circle, winning 57-percent of draws?

More from practice on Friday.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.