PREVIEW (10:40 AM)

With just four points separating the Flyers from the ninth-ranked Atlanta Thrashers in the Eastern Conference, the struggling Philly squad visits the fifth-seeded Ottawa Senators tonight. By the end of the night, the Flyers could either tie the Sens in the standings (with a game in hand) or drop ever closer to fighting the Habs, Bruins and Thrashers for the final playoff spot.

Ottawa has been scuffling even worse than the Flyers since the Olympic break, going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. The Sens, however, are coming off a win while the Flyers are coming off losing both ends of a home-and-home set with Atlanta. The Flyers have dropped four of their last five games.

The biggest problem of late has been the fact that the Flyers offense has once again gone AWOL. The loss of leading scorer Jeff Carter only makes it more important that the team as a whole pick up the pace. Meanwhile, the team has to cut down on some of the coverage breakdowns that have cost the team dearly in recent games and Brian Boucher needs to instill some confidence as the starting goaltender.

It is beyond disappointing that the team is still using cliches like "we need to play with more passion" this time of the year to attempt to account for why they've only played one truly playoff caliber game (the now-distant win over Chicago) since the break. The Flyers are perfectly capable of cranking up a big effort tonight in Ottawa but there's rarely any true carryover or followup. First things first, though. Tonight's game is a big test for both clubs.

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