BLOG UPDATE 11:45 AM

Peter Laviolette is going to have a lineup decision to make when Danny Briere comes back from his three-game suspension. Assuming that Andreas Nodl (shoulder) returns to the starting lineup when he's ready and Eric Wellwood (who has played well during his callup) is reassigned to the Phantoms, the coach will have to scratch another forward.

The candidates:

Nikolay Zherdev: A healthy scratch for two games prior to the Briere suspension, the Ukrainian winger has played better in his most recent three games (the game before he was demoted, and the two games since getting back in the lineup). He has two goals in his last three games -- like it or not, offensive totals will always be the primary measure of whether he's contributing or not. I think Zherdev's earned a chance to stay in the lineup.

James van Riemsdyk: The second-year winger got off to a good start this season but has shown signs of pressing because the goals aren't coming for him. JVR is one of the few Flyers forwards who has not played particularly well as of late. He has largely stopped getting involved physically and has tried to do too much when he's had the puck on his stick. A few games off might not be the worst thing in the world.

Jody Shelley: I think Shelley is also pressing in his role on the club. He wants to make a difference on the forecheck and in the physical department but has been taking bad penalties in which he's the only one going off. In the fight department, he has lost his last two fights but-- more importantly -- the bouts were completely insignificant to the tide of the game. Shelley doesn't have win a fight against Derek Boogaard to make a positive contribution, but he does need to do things that help swing the momentum for his club and give them emotional left. Right now, he doesn't deserve to be an every-game starter unless he elevates his play.

Dan Carcillo: I don't see Carcillo going back to the scratch list right now. He has finally started to come around physically after his off-season surgeries. Some role players are having a good night when you hardly notice them. Carcillo isn't one of those players. He's had other teams angry at him again and has been skating with more power and energy. Carcillo is back to pushing the envelope again, for better or for worse (when he's on, it comes down on the positive side of the ledger). As for the play with Ruslan Fedotenko last night, it looked to me like Rusty tried to duck the check and there really wasn't too much to the "incident" that deserves a league review. I doubt anything will come of it, but I guess we'll have to see what happens.

Meanwhile, the Phantoms (2-8-1) are on the road tonight in Maine tonight to take on the Portland Pirates (9-3-0). The Phantoms have lost their last seven games in a row (0-6-1).


***

The way the Flyers are playing right now makes me wish the playoffs started in the next few days. The club is firing on all cylinders right now, as evidenced by their strong 60-minute effort in defeating the Rangers last night by a 4-1 score.

It's easy to find things to like about the team's game. They haven't skipped a beat during Danny Briere's suspension, as the offense as kept right on rolling. The special teams are coming through. The team D has been excellent, as has rookie netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. They've been outworking other teams on the boards. In short, they've been playing like the team that came close to winning the Stanley Cup and not the one that barely got into the playoffs.

But there are plenty of big tests yet to come, both in the days and weeks ahead. The Flyers have often been a strong November team only to see their level of play drop off as December and the midseason roll around. It will be a test of the club's maturity level to see if they navigate that portion of the season more successfully than they did as recently as last season.

In the short term, the club faces a grudge match against the Islanders (who presumably will have Dwayne Roloson rather than the struggling Rick DiPietro in net this time around) tomorrow night, followed immediately by their first meeting with the Washington Capitals. If the club can take away three of four points this weekend on the road, it will be a success.

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