Andrej Meszaros

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

The Flyers, not quite defenseless but seemingly moving toward that distinction, will be without yet another blue-liner when the NHL season is scheduled to begin in October. General manager Paul Holmgren confirmed Monday that the team's already shallow pool of defensemen will be minus Andreas Lilja, who underwent surgery in his native Sweden late last month to correct a degenerative condition in his left hip. Lilja, 37, won't return until late October or early November at the earliest, according to Holmgren.

Max Talbot's injury and the team's mini-surge apparently have changed the Flyers' plans: They now could be a buyer as Wednesday's 3 p.m. trade deadline approaches. They made a minor move Monday, acquiring enforcer Jay Rosehill from Anaheim for speedy winger Harry Zolnierczyk. Rosehill, a left winger, is expected to be at the Flyers' practice Tuesday in Voorhees. The Flyers announced that Talbot suffered a broken left leg in Sunday's wild 5-4 overtime win over Washington and that he would be sidelined indefinitely.

KURTIS FOSTER was laughing. Unless you include call-ups Erik Gustafsson and Brandon Manning, who played a combined 34 games with the team last season, no defenseman in the Flyers' lineup in Tuesday night's win against the Bruins was on last year's roster. Foster and Luke Schenn were the only two to start this season with the Flyers. For some, a glimpse at the Flyers' injury list - with more than $30 million committed to 12 players - at the close of the season may be a good reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs will go on without Philadelphia for the second time since 1995.

Maybe it's because opponents now have a book on them, or maybe it's because some of the second-year Flyers are pressing. Whatever the reason, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn are going through sophomore slumps. Ditto Matt Read, who has stumbled after a hot start. Entering Thursday's game against the New York Islanders, all three were in long goal-scoring droughts: Couturier at 24 consecutive games, Schenn at 12, and Read at nine. Coach Peter Laviolette was asked whether he was concerned that the streaks might start weighing on the players.

BOY, THE Flyers have used a lot of defenseman this year. Or have they? Did you see the six guys they had to use against the Bruins on Tuesday night? Kurtis Foster, Andreas Lilja, Luke Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, Brandon Manning and Oliver Lauridsen. Only Foster and Schenn were with the team on Opening Night. Just as remarkable is that the group played reasonably well in the 5-2 win. Heck, Lauridsen even got credit for the winning goal after his innocent dump-in was fumbled into the net with help from Boston's Zdeno Chara, who (by the way)

THE NET at the other end of the ice was empty. With the game on the line, the Flyers clinging to a 3-2 lead with 1 minute, 34 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh's most lethal weapons just a few feet to the side of Ilya Bryzgalov, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette sent out a player he knew could win an important defensive zone draw. No, it was not Claude Giroux, who leads the Flyers with a 51.1 faceoff win percentage. It was not Danny Briere, who is next in line - or even rookie Sean Couturier, who has played in last-minute nail-biters.

Guillaume Latendresse scored twice and Christopher Higgins got the go-ahead goal as the Montreal Canadiens overcame a pair of deficits for a 5-3 win over the visiting New York Islanders. Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro left the game with 4:19 left in the opening period with an apparent head injury after he collided with Canadiens forward Steve Begin. DiPietro was replaced by Mike Dunham. In other games: At New York, Andrej Meszaros' bank shot off the stick of Rangers defenseman Marek Malik snapped a third-period tie and lifted Ottawa to a 3-2 victory.

A seemingly insignificant game in late October might be the night the Pittsburgh Penguins first gave the NHL a glimpse of their new generation of stars, one that already has the look of being very special, very soon. No, the Penguins aren't Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr or Ron Francis. They're Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal. All are No. 1 or No. 2 draft picks, and they aren't taking long to show why. Malkin scored a goal in his fourth consecutive game to start his career, and fellow rookie Staal scored his third goal in two games as the Penguins beat the visiting New Jersey Devils, 4-2, last night.

Exactly a week after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, goaltender Michael Leighton was back at the Flyers' Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., to begin a lengthy rehab process. Luckily for Leighton, the damage in his hip was not as extensive as doctors originally feared. "[The] doctor said he was happy with the way things went," Leighton said yesterday. "I'll be on crutches for 4 weeks instead of 8 weeks, so that's very positive. It's a little stiff, so I want to stretch it out as much as I can. " Leighton said he started his rehab the day after his surgery.