Flyers hoping home is where the winning starts

The Flyers' six-game homestand - which begins tonight against their old pal, Ken Hitchcock, and his fading Columbus Blue Jackets - could define their tumultuous season.

It's their longest homestand of the season, and it offers the Flyers a chance to gain ground in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

Just last week, the Flyers were riding an 8-1-1 wave that had vaulted them to No. 7 in the East - the top eight teams earn playoff berths - and the players were openly talking about eyeing the No. 4 seeding.

Two losses later, the Flyers began last night tied for No. 10 in the East - but just four points from No. 6 - and last in the Atlantic Division.

"It's going to be huge," left winger James van Riemsdyk said of the six games at the Wachovia Center. "We obviously have some work to do. We're in the thick of things, and if we want to kind of cement our spot a little bit and keep chipping away at the standings, we're going to have to come up with some big wins on this homestand."

The Flyers are 12-9-2 at home, and have won their last three games at the Wachovia Center.

"It's a pretty critical part of the season," center Jeff Carter said after yesterday's practice in Voorhees. "When you get an extended homestand, it's always huge. We started to play pretty good at home after a bit, and these six games could potentially make or break our season, so we need to be ready to go."

"You're expected to win your home games. We certainly expect to," coach Peter Laviolette said.

Laviolette said goalie Ray Emery would make his second straight start tonight.

Emery, in his first NHL  appearance  since Dec. 5, wasn't sharp in a 5-3 loss in Washington on Sunday.

Laviolette backed Emery.

"Ray has to get back in there and get some games, and this is an opportunity for him to jump right back in there," the coach said. "We need to do a little better job of taking care of the puck in front of him. Some of those goals, we put him in a bad position. . . . We want to give him a better game in front of him."

With his team trying to rebound from consecutive losses to Toronto and Washington, Danny Briere, said it would be "fun to get back and play a few games at home for a little stretch."

"It seems in the last couple of months, we've been home for a game or two and then back on the road. So it'll be nice to spend a little bit of time in front of our fans and get back on a winning streak."

Briere said the Flyers "have to take advantage of our homestand. We didn't do that earlier this year, just before Christmas. Now is a chance to get some of the points we kind of let get away early in the season. Hopefully, our fans will help us do that."

Breakaways. This is Hitchcock's second appearance at the Wachovia Center since he was named Columbus' coach. The Jackets had lost three straight heading into last night's game against St. Louis. . . . Laviolette and Mike Richards had a lengthy on-ice conversation before practice. "Just a coach talking to his captain. Getting on the same page is important," Richards said. . . . General manager Paul Holmgren on Richards' current issue with the local media: "He's the captain of our team. He's going to be put in the position where he has to answer difficult questions time to time. I think over the course of time Mike will get better in dealing with those questions that come up, whether difficult or easy." . . . Former coach John Stevens has agreed to do some scouting for the Flyers and will also do some TV work for Versus, Holmgren said.