The set-up: The 25-19-6 Philadelphia Flyers and the 21-20-7 Carolina Hurricanes get back on the ice tonight after the four-day All Star break. The Flyers open play on a three-game winning streak, while the Hurricanes return to play on a five-game skid.

Philadelphia: The Flyers have to be excited to resume play, not only on a winning streak but buoyed by the fact that Wayne Simmonds is coming off a Most Valuable Player performance in Sunday's NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles, as Simmonds scored three goals to join Reggie Leach (1980) as the lone members of the Flyers to win the award at the NHL's showcase mid-season event. Simmonds (team-leading 21 goals) has scored in each contest of Philadelphia's winning streak heading into the break and recorded two-point performances in each of the Flyers' victories over the Hurricanes in October. Philadelphia's recent hot streak has it clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Toronto and seven in front of Carolina.

Carolina: "Oh, it's a bad taste, losing five straight," Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters told the Raleigh News & Observer. "... The taste is in the mouth for the All-Star break." Defenseman Justin Faulk had his own strong performance on Sunday, as he scored a goal and set up four others. Faulk has also scored in both contests versus Philadelphia this season. After a surge in early January, the Hurricanes stumbled into the break, so it's time to get back on track. "It's a huge game for us," forward Jeff Skinner said. "We're going to try to close some ground on teams ahead of us. It's nice to kind of hit the reset button and let the body recover."

The pick: I expect a spirited effort from Carolina, which was outscored 23-5 during its losing streak. After all, Carolina is 15-6-1 at home this year averaging 3.00 GPG, while the Flyers are allowing 3.24 GPG on the road. The Over is a 10* play.