Eric Wellwood

Claude Giroux's one-game suspension caused Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to tinker with his lines, a common occurrence in this Turnpike Series with the New Jersey Devils. With his team facing elimination Tuesday, Laviolette started the night with four different lines from the ones that he primarily used Sunday. The first-period lines: Matt Read centering Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr; Danny Briere centering Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek; Eric Wellwood centering James van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds; and Sean Couturier centering Max Talbot and Zac Rinaldo.

Representatives from the NHL and the players' union will resume negotiations Wednesday in New York City, but it does not seem as if the lockout is close to ending. Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, said core economic issues - the major stumbling block in the labor stalemate - are not on the agenda. Instead, health and safety and drug testing are among the issues that are expected to be discussed. The sides will also meet Thursday in New York. Wednesday will be the 24th day of the lockout.

NEWARK - Looking for a spark after an 0-2 start, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette scrambled all four lines Tuesday against New Jersey and inserted newcomer Tye McGinn on a line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers, who scored a total of three goals in their first two games, began Tuesday with these lines: Claude Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Jake Voracek. Voracek replaced Schenn on the top line. Sean Couturier centering Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Read. Schenn centering McGinn and Simmonds.

For the Flyers, clearing the crease and slot has been a major problem in the last month, so on Thursday they made a deal they hope will help solve those woes.  They acquired Dallas defenseman Nicklas Grossman, a rugged 6-foot-4, 230-pounder, for second- and third-round draft picks. The second-round 2012 pick was acquired from Los Angeles in the Mike Richards trade, and the 2013 third-rounder came from Minnesota for Darroll Powe.  "He's really going to give us a boost in our own zone," said general manager Paul Holmgren, adding that Grossman figures to be used on a regular shift and on the penalty kill.

The Flyers have acquired their second defenseman in three days. Pavel Kubina, the righthanded-shooting defenseman from the Tampa Bay Lightning, was acquired by the Flyers on Saturday evening for two draft picks and minor-league center Jon Kalinski. The 6-foot-4, 258-pound Kubina is in the final year of a two-year, $7.7 million contract that has a cap hit of $3.85 million this season, according to Capgeek.com. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Flyers have a little more than $900,000 in salary cap space after sending Marc-Andre Bourdon down to the Phantoms.

With the season opener just two days away, the Flyers' lines and defensive pairings are coming into focus. That's not an easy task when roster and lineup decisions have to be made without any exhibition games. "Right now, we're just evaluating them in practice, and that's all we've got," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said after the fourth day of training camp Wednesday in Voorhees. As for the young players battling for spots - such as Scott Laughton, and Eric Wellwood - Laviolette said his decisions would be influenced by what he observed while scouting junior and AHL games during the 113-day lockout.

Andrej Meszaros, whose health is one of the keys to the Flyers defense this season, passed his first test in Saturday's season-opening, 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. "Actually, I felt better than I thought I would feel, so that's a good sign," Meszaros said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how I felt because we lost. " Meszaros had offseason Achilles ligament surgery, and the Flyers weren't sure until Saturday whether he would play in the opener. Used on the third pairing with newcomer Kurtis Foster, Meszaros logged 19 minutes, 54 seconds - Kimmo Timonen (23:52)

For the Flyers, there is a sliver of good news if the NHL lockout lasts for a significant amount of time: Several of their promising young players will get a chance to stay sharp by playing for their American Hockey League affiliate. Players who are exempt from waivers can be sent to the AHL, and Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, Zac Rinaldo, and Eric Wellwood were among the Flyers assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms on Saturday night. In addition, defenseman Danny Syvret and forward Matt Ford cleared waivers Friday and will attend the Phantoms' camp - which starts Sept.

During his earlier teenage years, when Sean Couturier wasn't on the ice refining his skills, he watched as many NHL games as possible, and there was one explosive player who became his favorite. A guy named Evgeni Malkin. The same guy Couturier is frustrating in the first round of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Couturier, the 19-year-old Flyers rookie center, has gotten under the skin of Malkin, the veteran Pittsburgh Penguins center who had an NHL-high 109 regular-season points and is heavily favored to win the league's MVP award.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall and to hear what Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said to his team after a dreadful opening period Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center. "It was not really pretty," Max Talbot said when asked what was said between periods. "We didn't come out like we wanted to. " But after falling into an early 2-0 hole, the Flyers scored seven unanswered goals - including two each by Talbot and Wayne Simmonds - en route to a much-needed 7-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.