Top line just one thing to like about spring chances

PHILADELPHIA » A trio of stars that could rightly call themselves the Core Group line as a reference to their longtime status with the Flyers are finding it fruitful to just be themselves now that scoring help is coming from elsewhere, too.

Claude Giroux scored twice, Sean Couturier had a goal and assist and Jake Voracek had four assists as the Flyers basically routed one of the hottest teams in hockey Friday night via a 5-2 win over the Rangers at

Wells Fargo Center.

Coming in, the Rangers had won nine consecutive road games. But with their fifth consecutive win overall, and 23rd home victory the Flyers not only proved they are one of the toughest teams in the league for a road team to beat ...

They’re looking more and more like a tough out for anybody come playoff time.

“Well we’re not there yet,” cautious Voracek said. “But I think if we’re going to continue to play the way we do, we can make a run. It comes down to everything, how our line with (Couturier) is going to perform, how we’re going to be strong down the middle, how Hartsy (Carter Hart) is going, and how the D can handle other teams. It’s clicking right now, we just have to make sure it’s clicking in a month and a half.”

It’s clicked for a long, long time for these three Flyers, an original “core group” of team stars who have played together for nine years but have a very limited resume of post-season success to show for it.

Somehow ... maybe it’s because free agent center Kevin Hayes has brought such a dynamic element, or maybe because a new three-head-coach staff led by Alain Vigneault is that much more advanced than the last coaching unit or three ... something seems different about this group, this season.

Recovering over a second-half stretch of 15-5-1 since mid-January, there should be a lot of hope for Flyers fans with the playoffs about five weeks hence.

“It comes down to how prepared we are for the games and how prepared we are physically,” Voracek said of the secret to this year’s success. “In the second and third (periods) we wear teams down. It’s not easy to play 60 minutes all out, kind of a grinding game and we have an allout effort. But we have a lot of skill to take over in the second and third.

“We are physically well prepared and it shows.”

That’s one reason, and certainly there are others.

“I think we are supporting each other a lot better,” said Couturier, now up to 57 points. “We are moving. We are going to the net hard. We are getting pucks to the net also. We’re being a little simpler in our game, and tonight it paid off.”

That said, the Flyers are hoping trade deadline acquisitions Nate Thompson and Derek Grant can grow into roles set for them to help the Flyers’ depth lines.

A return by migraine patient Nolan Patrick could vastly improve the Flyers’ playoff chances, too.

One undeniable factor is young goalie Hart, whose road performances this season have been largely lousy, but then, the team’s road record (now 14-15-3) has only recently begun to recover.

So as the Flyers go to New York for a rematch Sunday ... and as their veteran top line of scorers goes, and as their top goalie goes, so goes their long-term outlook this season.

“We are just playing the right way,” Giroux summarized. “If we keep doing that, we will be successful.”