The Flyers’ power play is getting healthy, and the goals are starting to come

It was a night when Flyers wingers Jake Voracek and Claude Giroux turned back the clock and played with a relentlessness that made you think they were in their primes.

It was a night when Carter Hart, his defense betraying him (again), was much better than his stats in a 5-4 overtime victory Monday against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

It was also a night for the Flyers’ much-maligned power play to shine — and that hasn’t happened too often during this oddball season.

An erratic power play, of course, has cost the Flyers some points that have them (barely) out of a playoff spot at the moment.

On Monday, the Flyers scored twice in five power plays — and had another power-play goal erased by a video review that revealed the play was offside — and that was the difference in a victory that got the four-game road trip off on the right skate.

The Flyers, who face the host Rangers again on Wednesday, have power-play goals in four straight games for the first time this season.

» READ MORE: Jake Voracek dragged the Flyers, and himself, to a win over the Rangers. Give the man a break. | Mike Sielski

“I think it was coming even before that,” assistant coach Ian Laperriere said Tuesday. “On the Pittsburgh trip, the boys were moving the puck well. Again, obviously you want to score, but [it’s also about] gaining momentum or not losing momentum, and at the beginning of the year, we felt our power play was losing momentum. But in the last little while, the guys are doing a great job of moving the puck around and not losing momentum.”

Unlike in past years, it’s difficult to distinguish which of the two power-play units is No. 1 or No. 2. The talent is spread equally among each unit.

One unit is composed of Giroux, Voracek, Joel Farabee, Nolan Patrick, and Ivan Provorov, and they had two power-play goals Monday. The other unit: James van Riemsdyk, whose seven power-play goals were fifth in the NHL entering Tuesday, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes, and Shayne Gostisbehere.

» READ MORE: Observations from the Flyers’ overtime win over the Rangers

“Right now we have two units that are running pretty well,” said Giroux, who converted a goal-mouth pass from Voracek for a backdoor power-play goal that tied the score at 4 early in the third period Monday. “We’re moving the puck well, getting some shots. When you have two units like that, you know you’re going to have guys going on the ice fresh.”

“Keeping the same units together is a really good thing, especially with the lack of practice we have right now,” Laperriere said.

Because of the condensed schedule, there are fewer practices. The Flyers, for instance, are expected to go 11 days between their last and next full practice.

» READ MORE: Finally healthy, right winger Wade Allison could make push to join Flyers later this season

Laperriere said it’s all about the units creating chemistry, “and I think guys are feeling it right now. We don’t win that game [Monday] without our power play, and that’s what we need right now.”

The Flyers’ penalty kill, which has struggled most of the season, has also made strides lately. It has allowed just one goal, total, over the last five games, going 9-for-10 in that span. Carter Hart prevented a Rangers power-play goal Monday with a spectacular, lunging save on Chris Kreider early in the third period.

For the season, the Flyers’ power play (20.7% success rate) has climbed to 15th in the NHL), while the penalty kill is 26th (74.1%).