Flyers Power Rankings: Ghost’s dive, Schenn’s eliteness

If you want to make a run for the playoffs in the final month of a season, you’ll go through hell to get there. Playing four road games in six nights is about as hellish as it’ll get for the Flyers, who were able to tread water.

The week belonged to Steve Mason, who practically kept the Flyers playoff hopes alive, while Brayden Schenn, back in the top spot, continued his ridiculous scoring pace. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare started shooting, Claude Giroux was knocked out and Michael Raffl went from No. 1 to reality.

The Rankings:

(last week: 2) Brayden Schenn - He’s on an incredible scoring run that has him top-6 in the league (and tops on the Flyers) in points since Jan. 1. If he can continue his production (four assists in four games this week), while adding some attribute points into his defensive awareness, he could be a lethal player.

(last week: 3) Shayne Gostisbehere - Ghost’s week was defined by his full extension, Pete Rose-esque dive to keep the puck in the zone, in OT, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was something to behold. He also added two assists, but that’s become standard for the rookie.

(last week: 6) Steve Mason - When Michal Neuvirth went down, Mason stood up -- wonky knee and all. The starter went 2-1-1 and posted a .945 save percentage in a crucial stretch. He’s much better than most give him credit for.

(last week: 8) Claude Giroux - Another week, another instance when Giroux goes awkwardly into the boards and the Flyers fate tentatively awaits the injury result. The captain was boarded by the Arizona Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal in Saturday’s game. Hanzal hinted in the post-game that it was retaliation from an earlier Radko Gudas hit that injured Coyotes captain Shane Doan, saying, “When someone goes after your captain, that’s usually what happens.” Giroux has three goals in his last four games.

(last week: 7) Sean Couturier - You probably didn’t notice, but Couturier led the Flyers with four points this week (one goal, three assists). That’s the good news. The bad news is a 37.7% face-off percentage and four minors. The team desperately needs Couturier to be an impact player down the stretch.

(last week: 4) Radko Gudas - No one knows what to think about Radko Gudas. He’s scoring goals, he’s hurting Hall of Famers, he seems ridiculously hairy. He has more shots on goal this season than all but five Flyers, and added a goal and assist this week.

(last week: 5) Wayne Simmonds - Angry Simmonds might be the best Simmonds around. He had two assists this week, but the fun part was watching him feverishly trying to kill Hanzal after the Giroux boarding.

(last week: 9) Ryan White - You keep expecting White to drop off the map and for his hot streak to end. Instead, it keeps on going. White scored a pair of goals, giving him 11 on the season. That’s great fourth-line production.

(last week: 1) Michael Raffl - He was outrageously productive last week, which meant a certain drop this week. And while his play didn’t fall off much in terms of creating chances and being first-to-puck, his production tumbled off a cliff. He had one assist in four games.

(last week: 10) Mark Streit - The Flyers TOI champ won another week. Streit registered a team-high average of 22:00 over four games, slightly more than Gostisbehere’s 21:25. He also added an assist and eight shots. Steady.

(last week:11) Jake Voracek - Voracek notched two assists and 10 shots in four games -- and that's an underwhelming performance for him. The Flyers’ power play needs Jake to shake off that injury, fast.

(last week: 17) Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - What a week for PEB. He scored a big deflection goal on Thursday and added an assist. Yet the most impressive stat was that he registered 10 shots in four games -- that’s as much as Voracek and Gostisbehere.

(last week: 16) Nick Cousins - The Greasemaster picked up another goal in the crease on Monday, giving him six on the season. That doesn’t sound like much but it’s nearly a 20-goal pace. Not bad.

(last week: 19) Brandon Manning - What a head-up, off-the-rush snipe against the New York Islanders for his first NHL goal. The guy looked like Alex Ovechkin. Who knew he had that in his arsenal?

(last week: 13) Andrew MacDonald - He kicked off the week well with an assist against the Isles and nabbed another against the Colorado Avalanche. But as an offensively gifted defenseman, he needs more than one shot on goal in his last six games.

(last week: 14) Sam Gagner - Gagner scored a big goal against the Islanders on Monday, ending a three-game pointless streak. The only problem was that after the goal, he started another three-game pointless streak. Flyers need more from Sam -- like maybe a timely shootout goal.

(last week: 15) Matt Read - He’s had some up weeks but this wasn’t one of them. One assist and two shots in four games. Yeech.

(last week: 18) Nick Schultz - Here’s how the week finished for Schultz -- one assist, one shot, four games. And that shot was his only SOG in seven games, while averaging 18:50 TOI per game. If his strategy is to never shoot the puck on net, he’s doing an impeccable job.

(last week: 20) Chris VandeVelde - Two games, two shots and a boat load of fourth-line chemistry -- which if he didn’t have, he wouldn’t be back in the lineup after his suspension.

(last week: 21) Scott Laughton - He played in two games this week and was scratched in favor of VandeVelde for the other two. But while many will see this as a head-to-head indictment of Laughton (to be scratch for someone of VandeVelde’s ilk), Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said it was more about fourth-line chemistry than individual contributions.

(last week: 22) Evgeny Medvedev - When Manning sniped that goal on Monday, Medvedev’s chances of re-entering the lineup went from some to none. He hasn’t played in seven games. The fact that Hakstol ran with Manning over Medvedev against the Red Wings in a must-win on March 15, explains the order of things.

(last week: 23) R.J. Umberger - Remember Umberger? In case you forgot, he’s signed through next season, too. It’s going to be a long calendar year for this guy.

Injury Report: Michael Del Zotto (Upper-Body Injury)