Scott Hartnell

Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin is still considered the favorite to win the NHL's MVP award. In the first two periods Sunday, he was playing like the overwhelming favorite. Malkin, one of the players who kept the Penguins in the Eastern Conference hunt while Sidney Crosby recovered from a concussion, had muscled past the Flyers' Claude Giroux and scored what looked like a dagger goal in the final minute of the second period. He had been dominant in the first 40 minutes, outplaying Giroux and helping the Penguins build a 2-0 lead over the Flyers, who had been outshot, 27-10.

SUNRISE, Fla. - When Flyers left winger Scott Hartnell received a text from Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's disciplinary guru, he figured he may have done something that would cause him to be punished. "He said, 'Please call me,' and I was trying to think back to the last game and if maybe I did something stupid," Hartnell said with a laugh before Tuesday's game in Florida. Instead, Hartnell was told he had been added to the all-star team. At first, Hartnell kidded his teammates and his father, telling them he was going to have a disciplinary hearing.

PITTSBURGH - To paraphrase a certain Russian goalie, the Flyers' regular season was a six-month journey through the humongous big schedule, and it produced more highlights than lowlights, more thrills than spills. Here is a look at some of the best and worst: Biggest surprise: Scott Hartnell went from a laughingstock for his falls to an all-star. From someone most fans wanted traded to one of the league's best power forwards. Hartnell began the season on the third line with rookies Sean Couturier and Matt Read.

RALEIGH, N.C. - When the NHL names the remaining 36 all-stars on Thursday, Flyers center Claude Giroux will undoubtedly be selected to the team. But coach Peter Laviolette made a passionate case Tuesday for another member of Giroux's high-scoring line. "I'm not lobbying, but it would be criminal for Scott Hartnell not to be on there," Laviolette said after the Flyers' morning skate. "In my opinion, he's the top power forward in the league right now. Based on numbers, based on this season, based on plus-minus, hits, physical play, goals and assists," you'd be hard-pressed "to come up with somebody who has had a better year than Scott.

SUNRISE, Fla. - When Flyers left winger Scott Hartnell received a text from Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's disciplinary guru, he figured he may have done something that would cause him to be punished. "He said, 'Please call me,' and I was trying to think back to the last game and if maybe I did something stupid," Hartnell said with a laugh before Tuesday's game in Florida. Instead, Hartnell was told he had been added to the all-star team. At first, Hartnell kidded his teammates and his father, telling them he was going to have a disciplinary hearing.

Flyers forwards Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell are upset that a blogger has spread a rumor - which the players strongly deny - at the expense of people's reputations. In this case, the reputations are those belonging to Carter, Hartnell, and Hartnell's wife, Lisa. On Dec. 14, a Temple University senior, Jerry Brennan, on a Web site that he said he created as part of a school project, made a posting. Under a headline that read "Affair Has Flyers Locker Room Split?", he wrote the following: This one is out of the bizarre rumor mill, however, a credible source told "thephillyfour" a possible affair could be the reason the Flyers' locker room appears to be split this season.

1. SIMON GAGNE, Flyers: Scored two goals; has three since returning from toe surgery in Game 4. 2. VILLE LEINO, Flyers:He added his second goal in two games thanks to relentless forechecking. 3. SCOTT HARTNELL, Flyers: Had his best game in almost 4 months, finally scoring.  

Not many of us saw this coming. Not after the Flyers showed in the regular season that they were one of the NHL's most explosive teams. Not after the way the Flyers scored almost at will against thought-to-be-mighty Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs. Not after the rookies demonstrated poise beyond their years and blended perfectly with the veterans for the first 89 games. Yet in their last four games, all losses, the rookies played like, well, rookies, and some of the usually dependable forwards were invisible.

Early in the season, the question being asked about veteran left winger Scott Hartnell was this: Would he waive his no-trade clause so the Flyers could get someone who (ahem) doesn't seem to fall down on every other shift? "I heard all the rumors," Hartnell said the other day with a smirk. Five months after his ragged, injury-affected start, another question is being asked: Is Hartnell the Flyers' most valuable player - center Claude Giroux is the favorite for the team award - and could he get votes in the league's MVP race?

Not many of us saw this coming. Not after the Flyers showed in the regular season that they were one of the NHL's most explosive teams. Not after the way the Flyers scored almost at will against thought-to-be-mighty Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs. Not after the rookies demonstrated poise beyond their years and blended perfectly with the veterans for the first 89 games. Yet in their last four games, all losses, the rookies played like, well, rookies, and some of the usually dependable forwards were invisible.

NEWARK, N.J. - Rookie center Sean Couturier made a quick recovery and was back in the Flyers' lineup Sunday night for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Devils in New Jersey. Couturier, 19, who has been a defensive specialist in the playoffs, suffered a leg injury in the first period of Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss and did not return the rest of the night. He took part in Sunday's morning skate and said he was "ready to go. " Without Couturier hounding him, New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists in Game 3. Couturier centered a line with Max Talbot and Erik Wellwood Sunday night.

NEWARK, N.J. -  Midway through the third period, with the Devils sitting on a comfortable lead that the Flyers barely threatened, the Prudential Center staff played a video montage of Rocky's most painful beatdowns. Unlike their favorite mythical character, Philadelphia's hockey team appears to be down for the count. Thanks to a late second-period goal by Dainius Zubrus, the Devils now have the Flyers on the ropes after a 4-2 win in Game 4 that was one of the most lopsided, yet deceivingly close, games of the season.

NEWARK, N.J. - It's hard to say which is worse, that Claude Giroux could be suspended for an elimination game or that the way the Flyers are playing, it barely seems to matter. You kept waiting for Giroux to make his mark on this second-round series, to take out his frustration on the New Jersey Devils. But an indefensible cheap shot from behind was not exactly what anyone had in mind. Giroux's sneak attack on Dainius Zubrus pretty much summed up where the Flyers are in this series.

Players to watch FLYERS: Center Claude Giroux The shifty center has been stifled by rookie Adam Henrique, among others, and the Flyers need him to get untracked if they are going to even the series. Giroux has just one point in three games. DEVILS: Goaltender Martin Brodeur The Devils' future Hall of Famer can give his team a stranglehold on the series if he celebrates his 40th birthday with a win. He has a 2.39 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in the three games.

Claude Giroux stood there, his arms folded, gently stroking his ginger playoff beard and trying to come up with an answer. The assembled press corps was eager for Giroux's take on why the recently dubbed "best player in the world" dropped off from a type of first-round series that would satisfy most players for an entire playoff run to just one point in three games against the New Jersey Devils. Giroux, 24, shrugged off the questions. "We were one goal away from us leading 2-1," Giroux said.

After a six-day layoff between the first and second round, the Flyers' power play has gone from tropical to freezing, from eye-opening to an eyesore. And while head coach Peter Laviolette downplays the layoff's impact, the power play is clearly out of sync. "We are definitely not working hard enough on the power play," center Danny Briere said. "It's as simple as that. " The Flyers are 1 for 11 (9.1 percent) on the power play in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against New Jersey, after going 12 for 23 (52.2 percent)

During the regular season, the Flyers were kings of the road. No NHL team had more road victories, and the Flyers will need to resort to that winning, focus-for-60-minutes formula as the Turnpike Series with the New Jersey Devils shifts to Newark for Game 3 on Thursday night. "No easy games in the playoffs," said goalie Ilya Bryzgalov after Wednesday's practice in Voorhees. "The farther you go, the harder it gets. " The Devils dominated Game 2, registering a 4-1 win and evening the best-of-seven series at one game each.

THEY STARTED filing out of the Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night at about the 6-minute mark, right after Travis Zajac scored the goal to put the Devils up by two. The talk of a Flyers sweep went with them. There was a popular school of thought last summer when Paul Holmgren pushed the plunger and decimated the Flyers roster that offense was going to be a problem. For most of the season, it was not. In Tuesday's Game 2, it was as the Flyers slogged their way to a 4-1 loss. With Mike Richards and Jeff Carter gone, the Flyers, it was thought, weren't going to have enough reliable scoring to make a serious playoff run. They entered the season having to replace the 59 goals the homegrown stars provided, plus another 19 that Ville Leino gave them.

Players to watch FLYERS: Scott Hartnell The Flyers' leading scorer through the regular season with 37 goals has just two tallies in seven playoff games this spring. Hartnell's tireless work in the helped produce Claude Giroux's 15-point run, but it's time for Hartnell to get back on the score sheet. DEVILS: Ilya Kovalchuk He was held without a shot in Game 1 for the first time since Nov. 23, 2011. Kovalchuk was not available to meet the media on Monday.