Steve Zipay. 

Mar. 15--PHILADELPHIA -- Nikolai Zherdev, who was benched for the second and third periods Thursday in Nashville, played 17:42 against the Flyers yesterday and seemed to be out of coach John Tortorella's doghouse.

Zherdev responded with a much better effort. He had three shots on goal, four missed shots and some energy in 24 shifts. Flyers goaltender Martin Biron made a remarkable stop on one of his shots and defenseman Matt Carle's stick barely deflected another close-in attempt.

Tortorella said he spoke with the right wing, but "not an in-my-office meeting. I talked to a number of players yesterday and today. It's my job. With so little games left, I need to make decisions on who's going to help us win that particular game. We'll go with the guys we think have the best chance to win that particular game.

"I'm not a big believer in just rolling lines and . . . hoping. Right now you can't hope, you have to get things done. When I see some players doing something wrong, they're going to get another opportunity, and when a player is struggling, he may lose some ice time, but it's not a kick in the -- message."