Sean Couturier

PITTSBURGH - The Flyers, coming off their most lopsided victory of the season, get a reality check Wednesday night when they face the streaking Penguins in Pittsburgh. It will be the final stop on a season-high six-game road journey, one in which the Flyers are 2-3, including Monday's 7-0 rout of the New York Islanders. The victory over the Islanders, the Flyers (7-9-1) realize, won't mean much if they don't carry the momentum into Pittsburgh (11-5), which entered Tuesday atop the Eastern Conference.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Time and Tye McGinn throughout a season, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is faced with tough lineup decisions - constantly juggling role players and lines in search of a perfect fit. For Monday's matinee on Long Island, that surprisingly meant a seat in the press box for rookie McGinn, who has provided a serious spark for the Flyers in his first 13 NHL games. McGinn, 22, collected three goals, including the game-winner in Winnipeg a week ago, and two assists in the 13 games.

MONTREAL - Before we discuss one of the Flyers' hot-button topics in the season's first month - center Claude Giroux's slow start - let's switch to baseball for a moment. During Chase Utley's heyday, one of the things that made him such a great hitter was the fact that Ryan Howard batted behind him, giving the second baseman better pitches to hit. Take Howard out of the lineup and Utley doesn't have much protection. In a sense, Giroux's early-season slump is because his "Howard" has been removed.

NEWARK, N.J. - Ever since Matt Cooke's errant skate tore through 70 percent of Ottawa star Erik Karlsson's Achilles' tendon on Wednesday night on national television, there has been a buzz in the Flyers' locker room. No, there isn't any chatter about Cooke's intent or culpability in the hockey play, since almost every player agrees that even if he wanted to, Cooke would have a hard driving driving his skate blade into Karlsson's boot. Instead, the Flyers are looking to do anything they can to prevent a similar crippling injury.

NEWARK, N.J. - Scott Hartnell skated Friday, but there is no change to the timetable for the injured left winger. Hartnell suffered a broken bone in his left foot Jan. 22 and was expected to miss four to eight weeks. Three weeks have passed since Hartnell underwent surgery. He met with a doctor Friday. Hartnell led the Flyers with a career-high 37 goals last season, and his absence has been felt this month as scoring has become an issue for the team. "He's a big part of our locker room.

The Flyers spent a brief but welcome spell at home before continuing to the third game of their six-game trip, Friday in New Jersey against the Devils. The Flyers lost, 5-2, in Toronto on Monday and beat the Jets, 3-2, on Tuesday in Winnipeg. They returned home after the win, practiced Thursday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, then headed to Newark. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who has been sidelined since Jan. 24 with a shoulder injury, returned to practice. He was wearing a noncontact yellow jersey and skated in the beginning.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - In the first three-plus weeks of the season, the Flyers have been maddeningly inconsistent and have rarely put together three strong periods. Tuesday was an exception. The Flyers finally played well in all three zones in each period, and the result was a much-needed, 3-2 win over Winnipeg, a victory that ended their four-game road losing streak. "What I liked about it was it was 60 minutes of a committed hockey team that went out to win a game to keep us moving in the right direction," coach Peter Laviolette said after the Flyers improved to 2-6 on the road.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The Flyers recalled left winger Harry Zolnierczyk from the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms and put him into the lineup Tuesday night in Winnipeg, hoping he can awaken a sleepy offense. Zolnierczyk isn't exactly a prolific scorer, but he brings some much-needed quickness to a team that, entering Tuesday, had produced a total of nine goals in its six road losses. A year ago, Zolnierczyk collected six points in 37 games with the Flyers. He had nine goals and eight assists in 46 games with the Phantoms this season.

TORONTO - The Flyers have gone from road warriors to roadkill. They scored in the opening minute Monday night, lost their momentum with a series of senseless penalties, and watched Toronto score three goals early in the second period en route to a 5-2 victory at the Air Canada Centre. Inexplicably, the Flyers are 1-6 on the road. A year ago, no NHL team had more road wins than the Flyers. "They were hungrier, and when that happens you're usually first to the puck," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said of the Maple Leafs.