Wayne Simmonds

NEWARK, N.J. - The Flyers briskly exited the dressing room Friday night into a corridor and then to a waiting bus at the Prudential Center, a walk that included a familiar feeling in this venue. Their 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils was the Flyers' sixth consecutive to the Devils, a skid that includes the 2012 postseason. Four of those defeats came in New Jersey, and the Flyers have not won on the Devils' ice in their last five attempts. Friday offered a chance to halt the drought, especially when the Flyers jumped to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.

WHEN CLAUDE Giroux looked to his right for much of last season, he saw a future Hall of Famer. When he looked to his left, he saw a soon-to-be All-Star, playing in his 12th season. Now, Claude Giroux looks to his left and sees a player who has scored 20 goals in a season only once. When he looks to his right, he sees a second-year player who was a revelation as an undrafted free agent last season, but a guy who is actually older than the newest Flyers captain. That's just Friday night.

TORONTO - If Flyers coach Peter Laviolette decides to call Brian Boucher's name Tuesday night in Winnipeg, the veteran goalie says he is ready for his first NHL start since last season. "Yeah, absolutely," Boucher said after rejoining the Flyers and taking part in their morning practice before Monday night's game in Toronto. "I played a bit in Adirondack, so it's been good. Anytime you get game sharpness, it certainly helps, and I feel it's been a good thing for me. " Laviolette would not commit to Tuesday's goalie.

The Schenn brothers - Luke and Brayden - played a major role in the Flyers' 4-3 overtime win over Carolina on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Luke Schenn, a bruising defenseman, had eight hits and six blocked shots in a team-high 24 minutes, 50 seconds, while Brayden had a goal and two assists as the Flyers concluded a 3-0-1 homestand. "Seven of eight points. We'll take it," said Luke Schenn, who will face his former Toronto teammates Monday. "It was good to get back on track a little bit, but we have to be a lot better on the road.

After missing three-plus games because of a concussion, it appears Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds will return to the lineup for Saturday's matinee against Carolina at the Wells Fargo Center. Simmonds wore a regular jersey and was allowed to take contact during Friday's practice in Voorhees. Afterward, he said he felt ready to play but hasn't been told if he'll be in the lineup. He said he has passed all the medical testing, which has become more stringent lately. "I think, obviously, they changed some of the protocol for concussions.

Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds was wearing a yellow jersey with the hope it will soon turn orange. Simmonds participated at his first practice Wednesday since suffering a concussion during Friday's 3-2 loss in Washington. The yellow jersey signals no contact. Simmonds skated freely at the Skate Zone in Voorhees and was optimistic afterward. "I felt fine," he said. Whether it's fine enough to return to action is in the hands of the team's medical staff. What is important to Simmonds is that he has skated twice since the injury, and both times he came away encouraged.

TOM SESTITO, the Flyers' Tuesday night hero who chipped in with his first NHL goals in more than two calendar years, joked in the locker room on Wednesday that he leads the league in two categories: shooting percentage and faceoff win percentage. He's riding a perfect 100 percent in both. But he's taken only two shots and one draw. A few stalls away, Claude Giroux also leads the NHL in a statistical category. It just might not be the one you would come to expect: total number of faceoffs taken (242)

GROUNDHOG DAY was last Saturday. For Bruno Gervais, it had to feel like the start of the Flyers' season again. Gervais was a new face in a new place, yet he still began the year the same way he did last season: in the press box. As a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, the defenseman was scratched for nearly the first 40 games, before impressing Guy Boucher's staff and finishing on a strong note as a regular. Gervais, 28, was scratched for the Flyers' first two games, passed over in favor of fellow newcomer Kurtis Foster.

MAX TALBOT is right. There's usually an underlying reason when one player has a career season offensively. And when a slew of them do, like the Flyers of last season, there's a slew of underlying reasons, too. For the Flyers, the emergence of Claude Giroux from really good to the level of elite and the revival of Jaromir Jagr were two such reasons last season. Jagr's on-ice affect as a passer, and his off-ice influence on Scott Hartnell, created an offensive machine so prolific the Flyers sometimes fell irresponsibly in love with a style that created breathtaking excitement one minute and exasperation the next.

With winger Wayne Simmonds sidelined indefinitely because of a concussion, more responsibility has been handed to rookie Tye McGinn. In almost two full games since replacing Simmonds on the top line, McGinn has played solidly on a unit with Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. "He's a big body, and he makes a lot of room for us," Briere said after a longer-than-usual practice Monday in Voorhees. "He creates a lot of turnovers. He's always on the puck. I was very impressed the first time I had to play with him. I think Claude, too, really liked the chemistry that formed quickly between the three of us. " McGinn, who began the season with AHL Adirondack and was a healthy scratch last Tuesday against the Rangers, was on the ice for power-play goals by Briere and Giroux in Saturday's 5-3 win over Carolina.