VOORHEES, N.J. -- With his team down, 3-0, in the Eastern Conference final after scoring five goals in the three games, the Flyers' John Stevens did what any coach in his situation would.

He shuffled his forward lines.

"It's just something I wanted to look at in practice," Stevens said yesterday after the team worked out at Skate Zone, but he indicated he probably will use his new combinations for Game 4 tonight at Wachovia Center.

"I like what I saw," he said.

The big change was separating Daniel Briere and Vinny Prospal, whose points this series consist of one assist each. Briere has two shots and a plus-minus rating of minus-3, Prospal, five shots and a minus-2. Prospal had 33 goals in the regular season.

In the revamped look, Prospal centered for Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger, while Briere centered for regular-season scoring leader Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall.

"Vinny's natural position is center ice," Stevens said. "Richie and Danny have had an awful lot of success together this year -- mind you, mostly on the power play, but they're two of the best offensive players on our team and in the league, two of the leaders on our hockey team for years to come. So we thought we'd give it a look, and there's a good chance you'll see it [tonight]."

In another change, Patrick Thoresen, a scratch the past two games, moved up to the fourth line, an indication he could replace Steve Downie tonight.

"We've had so many different line combinations throughout the year," said Umberger, who through yesterday was second in playoff goals with 12. "It's just sometimes something you need to do, try to help out different lines, get some balanced scoring."

With his left eye area still badly bruised and swollen, but the eye open just enough to see, defenseman Braydon Coburn donned a clear visor and returned to practice. He has not ruled out playing tonight.

"We'll see how it feels [today]," he said. "I had a good workout out there."

Coburn was cut and battered Sunday when he was hit by a deflected puck early in Game 2. Although there is no evidence of damage to the eye, it was swollen shut for a couple days.

"It started opening up [Tuesday] night after icing it, and [yesterday] morning it started opening up a little bit more," said Coburn, who took the ice 20 minutes before his teammates and stayed for the bulk of the session.

Philadelphia has been without top two-way defenseman Kimmo Timonen this series after a blood clot was discovered on his left ankle. Coburn is their next-best two-way defenseman.

Anyone can lay out the statistics -- only two NHL teams have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series -- but Flyers center Jeff Carter countered that winning four games in a row is not impossible.

"Why not? We've done it before. We've done it plenty of times. I don't see why we can't do it now," he said, and that includes four wins in a row in the second round of the playoffs this year -- although the Flyers were down just 1-0 to Montreal before that streak.

The air of shock that surrounded the Flyers after their 4-1 loss in Game 3 had lifted overnight to the point that Stevens mildly admonished reporters yesterday for sounding as if all was lost.

"Just before we practiced we shook some of the somber mood out of our system," Stevens said. "I thought we did that. I thought guys were jumping. Good enthusiasm. Execution was good."

That's because the players are realistic but determined about the series situation.

"We've had some tough nights the last few games against Pittsburgh, but it's bound to turn around," Briere said.

"That's the way I see it. Try to stay positive."

Stevens was asked about options for getting the puck in deep in the Penguins' zone, something that has been a problem for the Flyers this series.

"An aerial attack," he cracked.