Coach John Stevens was impressed with the way Daniel Carcillo has handled himself with the Flyers thus far. Carcillo, traded from Phoenix in exchange for Scottie Upshall, scored an assist on Joffrey Lupul’s second goal of the game in the Flyers’ 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. It was his first point with the Flyers. He also got the team going with a big hit and fight early in the game, cementing his position with the orange and black.
“He skates well, he handles the puck well, and he’s got good hockey sense,” said Stevens. “You combine that with a 
great deal of courage, and he’s a pretty effective player. He gets on top of people, and he showed an ability to contribute offensively the other night. I thought he played a sound game.”
When first arriving in Philadelphia, Carcillo was grilled about being simply a goon, replacing fan favorite and moderately skilled Upshall. With only three goals on the season, he was forced to explain himself. He blamed waning ice time for his decline in his production with the Coyotes. When fielding comparisons to former Flyers’ forward and mental patient, Steve Downie, Carcillo responded that he believed he was a smarter player than Downie despite the violent similarities.
Danny Briere practiced again Monday, but still remains questionable for Tuesday’s contest against his former team, the Buffalo Sabres. Briere pulled himself out of Thursday’s game against the Calgary Flames due to weakness and pain in his legs. The pain was due to a common post-surgery symptom of scar tissue breaking up.
“Today I skated and felt stronger,” Briere told hockeybuzz.com’s Tim Paccacio. “At this point, there’s a chance I’ll be playing tomorrow night. We’ll wait till the morning. That was a pretty good practice, pretty intense. We’ll wait until tomorrow. ”
Stevens believes Briere is close to coming back full time.
“I want to make sure when he comes back he stays in the lineup a full game and moving forward,” Stevens said. “What choice do we have? We have to make sure he gets the proper rehab, put him through demands physically and just keep progressing along. We’re not going to write him off. We think we’re getting close to having a healthy player.”
Marty Biron will be in net Tuesday against his former team. Biron is 2-0 versus the Sabres this season.
“It’s a little bit fun because these are guys that I know and this is a team that I know really well,” Biron said of Buffalo. “Friends and family are going to be watching the game. That’s definitely something that you get up for.”
Phila.Bright 