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Flyers Notes: Retooled Lecavalier line is cashing in

The Flyers had points in four straight games entering Tuesday, a streak that started when coach Craig Berube put center Vinny Lecavalier on a line with wingers Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn for the first time this season.

The Flyers had points in four straight games entering Tuesday, a streak that started when coach Craig Berube put center Vinny Lecavalier on a line with wingers Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn for the first time this season.

The trio had combined for six goals and 11 points in that 3-0-1 span before Tuesday's game against Ottawa. All three can play a physical game, and Lecavalier is also a smooth playmaker.

"When you get pucks deep and have another physical presence with you up in the rush, it's a lot easier," Simmonds said. ". . . It's easy to forecheck when you've got two guys in there. The first guy takes the body, second guy comes in to take the puck, and I know when I am on the ice with them, that is what will happen."

Berube made another move that preceded the streak, inserting Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson as a defensive pair and making Hal Gill and Andrej Meszaros healthy scratches.

Schenn has been much more physical since his return, registering 18 hits and a plus-2 rating in those four games. Gustafsson was also plus-2 in that span.

Ryan's return

Ottawa's high-scoring Bobby Ryan, who grew up in Cherry Hill, played at the Wells Fargo Center Tuesday for just the third time in his career - the first since 2010, when he was with Anaheim and Chris Pronger "knocked two of my teeth out, so it was a fun night," Ryan said. "And then I had to go see him and say hello to him after the game, and that was even harder."

Ryan said he had 40 to 50 relatives and friends at the game, including his parents.

"I don't spend much time here anymore - a couple of weeks in the summer is about it," Ryan said. "But it's still home; it's where I grew up, so it's nice."

Neilson tribute

The Florida Panthers will name the press box in honor of the late Roger Neilson during a ceremony Monday afternoon. The Flyers play there that night.

Neilson was the Panthers' first coach in 1993. He later coached the Flyers from 1998 to 2000.

Breakaways

Goalie Robin Lehner started for Ottawa. Lehner said last week a suspension would have been justified after the Flyers' Ray Emery left his net to start a fight with Washington goalie Braden Holtby. A feud started on Twitter as Emery's girlfriend, pop singer Keshia Chante, tweeted that Lehner was "an idiot" for saying what he did, though she later apologized.