The Flyers head up to Newark for a three-game road trip with just five games remaining in the season.

That's a road trip that will likely decide their playoff hopes.

And Tyson Forrester speaks for the first time since his surprise return to the Flyers lineup.

I'm Charlie O'Connor with PHLY Flyers and PHLY Sports.

And these are your Flyers post-practice notes.

The Flyers actually practiced today at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in a rare

occurrence because it was picture day. End of season. Pictures are taken. Team pictures. Everyone was

out on the ice before practice to do that. But pictures were not the main focus of this day.

The main focus is getting back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

After the Flyers, a big win on Sunday in overtime against the Boston Bruins,

they are in possession of the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.

They moved one point ahead of the New York Islanders with that win.

And for the first time since mid-January, the Flyers are back in a playoff spot. Now they just have to hold it. And the Flyers now control their own destiny once more. If they were to win out and win all five of their games, they are locked into the playoffs. But if they win four, they're probably still sitting pretty. Even three wins, there's a pretty good chance they get in, especially if one of those losses, they end up picking a point for a loss in overtime or a shootout. So the Flyers are back in control, but they still need to take care of business on this trip and in these final five games. And that push continues on Tuesday in Newark against the New Jersey Devils. Now, the Devils have underachieved this year. They've dealt with injuries. They're almost certainly not making the playoffs, but they have played better recently. Jack Hughes is back, so they will not be an easy team to take down, especially in their own building. Then after that, they head to Detroit for a rematch against the Red Wings, who are still very much in the playoff mix, and then they close it out against the Winnipeg Jets, a team that was great last season, not so great this year, but like the Devils, have been playing better recently. So no clear-cut pushovers on this three-game trip. Flyers still have to find a way to take care of business. And it does look like the Flyers will have their full complement of players for this trip. Restra's Lina was the only player who did not hit the ice for practice today,

but he was with the team. compliment of players for this trip. Rastas Lina was the only player who did not hit the ice

for practice today, but he was with the team for the picture, and it looks like he will be good

to go for Tuesday. Rick Taka confirmed it was just a maintenance day, and he's expected to be

ready to go when they hit the ice in New Jersey. Another player who will almost certainly

be in the lineup when they play against the Devils, Tyson Forrester, who has just recently made his return from an arm injury that kept him out for months. He's played in three games since his return, has one goal, eight shots on goal, and he's certainly made an impact for the Flyers. But Forster's one of those players where it's not just scoring that he brings to the table. He brings a lot of other

elements, a lot of other elements a lot of details of his game he's always been very strong along the boards he has an extremely high hockey IQ and rick toockets today after practice praised forster for what he brought to the table especially in sunday's game even when the goals and assists weren't necessarily common. I'm sure you guys noticed, but I noticed that. Even in the corner, it's just a little bit of a play to keep the puck possession, body position, just a little play to our guy instead of, you know, losing a, like he's a real smart, you know, smart player, you know, even when, like, for a guy like him him even if he doesn't have his A game he

contributes those are the type of guys you know sometimes those guys are whatever might not have

their best night in the legs but somehow they contribute he's that type of guy for us he's a real

glue guy for us now Forcer wasn't available to chat with the media while he was recovering from

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