Sean Couturier

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The Flyers, their patchwork lineup held together by minor-league call-ups, adhesive tape and (waiver) wire, have overcome a slew of injuries and are on their longest winning streak of the season. Somehow. Winners of four straight, the Flyers (17-17-3) can climb over .500 for the first time this year with a victory over the free-falling Jets (18-19-2 ) in Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers are three points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

TORONTO - Centers Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier have suffered through sophomore slumps, but they played major roles Thursday as the resilient Flyers outlasted the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3, at the Air Canada Centre and increased their season-best winning streak to four games. "We're both trying to step up," Schenn said after the Flyers climbed to within two points of the eighth-place Rangers in the Eastern Conference. "We're getting the opportunity, playing on the power play and playing with good players.

TORONTO - The Flyers' future goaltending situation was apparently put into disarray after they acquired Steve Mason from Columbus just before the NHL trade deadline Wednesday. The move could pave the way for the Flyers to use a compliance buyout on starter Ilya Bryzgalov after the season. The Flyers sent backup goalie Michael Leighton - did the ghost of Patrick Kane's 2010 Stanley Cup-winning goal go with him? - and a 2015 third-round draft pick to Columbus for Mason, who has regressed after winning the Calder Cup as rookie of the year in 2008-09.

For the Flyers to get back into the playoff hunt, they must do some extraordinary things, such as going on a lengthy winning streak. The Flyers won their third straight game for the first time this season with a 5-3 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers came through in the third period, outscoring Montreal, 3-0, and outshooting the Canadiens, 14-2. "We are winning battles, making better decisions with the puck, and we're having more fun playing that third period," said captain Claude Giroux, who assisted on Erik Gustafsson's winning goal.

TORONTO - The Flyers' future goaltending situation was apparently put into disarray after they acquired Steve Mason from Columbus just before the NHL trade deadline Wednesday. The move could pave the way for the Flyers to use a compliance buyout on starter Ilya Bryzgalov after the season. The Flyers sent backup goalie Michael Leighton - did the ghost of Patrick Kane's 2010 Stanley Cup-winning goal go with him? - and a 2015 third-round draft pick to Columbus for Mason, who has regressed after winning the Calder Cup as rookie of the year in 2008-09.

For the Flyers, Operation Playoff Push needs to go into overdrive. They have 13 games to climb over five teams in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Physical left winger Jay Rosehill, acquired from Anaheim on Monday for speedy winger Harry Zolnierczyk, figures to play in some of those games, giving the Flyers their first heavyweight enforcer in nearly two months. "He's a player you hate to play against," captain Claude Giroux said after the Flyers practiced in Voorhees on Tuesday, preparing for Wednesday's game against visiting Montreal.

RYANE CLOWE and the San Jose Sharks have the Flyers waiting with bated breath. Clowe, the forward the Flyers have spent the better part of the past 2 days chasing, was scratched from Monday night's lineup by the Sharks in order to "protect the asset" in the event of a trade. An injury would have derailed the process. As of press time for this edition, Clowe had not been traded. Check Philly.com/Sports for the latest Flyers information. Multiple sources confirmed to the Daily News on Monday that the Flyers have been negotiating with Clowe's agent, Boston-based Kent Hughes from MFive Sports.

RYANE CLOWE and the San Jose Sharks have the Flyers waiting with bated breath. Clowe, the forward the Flyers have spent the better part of the past 2 days chasing, was scratched from Monday night's lineup by the Sharks in order to "protect the asset" in the event of a trade. An injury would have derailed the process. As of press time for this edition, Clowe had not been traded. Check Philly.com/Sports for the latest Flyers information. Multiple sources confirmed to the Daily News on Monday that the Flyers have been negotiating with Clowe's agent, Boston-based Kent Hughes from MFive Sports.

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.

Flyers winger Jake Voracek looked outside the locker room and pointed toward the league standings that hung on the opposite wall. The playoffs are still in reach, said Voracek, who noted that the Flyers were just five points out of the Eastern Conference's eighth and final postseason spot Thursday. That's a rather positive outlook for a Flyers team that has dropped five of its last seven games. Three of the losses came to division opponents. In the midst of a five-day break before they face the Penguins Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Flyers displayed a new look at Thursday's two-hour practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.