VOORHEES, N.J. -- Thirteen times before, the Philadelphia Flyers have trailed, three games to one, in a best-of-seven playoff. Thirteen times, they have lost. Only three times have they forced a Game 7.

Yet they remain undeterred about being in that spot again going into Game 5 of their first-round series with the Penguins tonight at Mellon Arena.

"I really think we're on the verge of something good happening here," Flyers coach John Stevens said yesterday after an optional practice at Skate Zone. "I honestly believe that. I really like the way our team has done better every [successive] game in the series. We intend to continue that path going back to Pittsburgh."

There were no long faces.

"I think the guys are loose," goaltender Martin Biron said. "We know that starting in the middle of Game 2 and moving forward, we've played really good. It's too bad we only have one win to show for it."

In Game 4, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stole a win for the Penguins, making 45 saves in beating the Flyers, 3-1.

"We had more [scoring] chances in that one game than we've had all year in any one game," Stevens said. "Now we've got to bear down and get those chances in the net."

Five of the team's most prolific forwards during the season -- Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul and Mike Knuble -- have combined for three goals in the series.

"We're confident if we play that well [as in Game 4] and, hopefully, get a couple bounces, we can kind of creep back into the series," Richards said.

Biron would like to do something similar to Fleury's performance for his team tonight, but he is open to one of his teammates filling that role.

"Any given night, guys are asked to step up," Biron said. "[Tuesday] night, [Fleury] was asked to step up a little bit more than anyone else, and he did. Hopefully, I'll be able to do the same."

If not, it might be someone unexpected, as rookie forward Claude Giroux was in Game 3 when he had a goal, an assist and a scrap in Philadelphia's 6-3 win.

"You never know who's going to step it up," Biron said. "In the locker room, you always look around and say, 'I'm going to take it into my hands and take it forward and be that wall for the team,' but it could be somebody else in the locker room that's going to do an even better job.

"It's about getting that one guy who has that one performance, and I'm all for it to be me or anybody else in this locker room as long as it gets us the win."

The Flyers continued to maintain that on the first goal Tuesday, Penguins center Sidney Crosby should have been called for goaltender interference and the tally nullified -- something that is not reviewable and would have had to be called on the ice.

Biron said everything about the play was legal until Crosby slid feet-first over the goal line with the puck.

"He squeezed in between me and the post. I can't get to the post," Biron said. "The puck comes in. I got a piece of it, and it bounced off him. That's fine ... but if it bounces off of him and he interferes with me getting to the post, I think that's a different story."

Stevens remained vocal on the topic.

"I still don't like the call. I still have not gotten an explanation on it," he said. "[Crosby] tried to stop, but he ends up carrying himself, the puck and Marty into the net. I just think a goalie has to be allowed to make the save."

Through 149 regular-season games in the NHL, Daniel Carcillo has eight goals.

It took him three playoff games to net one, and it was a big one. He was the only Flyer to solve Fleury in Game 4, lifting a backhander over the goalie's glove to cut the deficit to 2-1.

"It was pretty cool," Carcillo, a former Penguins draft pick, said. "It got the building going, got the fans back into it. It would have been nice if we could have built on it."

So has the man who led the league with 254 penalty minutes this season been hiding a wicked backhander?

"No. I wish," Carcillo said, flashing a smile minus several teeth. "I just tried putting it as high as I could. Luckily, it went in."