With Brian Elliott ruled out five-to-six weeks after undergoing core muscle surgery, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is prepared to ride Michal Neuvirth rather than look to add a goalie prior to the trade deadline.

That's the immediate plan, at least.

"Well, the deadline is two weeks away. I guess things can change between now and then, but we like our team, we like what we've done. In saying that, we've got to keep going here, we've got to keep pushing," Hextall said Tuesday.

"Neuvy is very capable. Again, he's played some real good games for us this year, some other ones that haven't been that great, but if he can get on a roll here and get some consistency and do a good job for us, we will be fine."

Heading into Tuesday's game against New Jersey, the Flyers sat third in the Metropolitan Division, with a five-point cushion in the race for a playoff spot.

Hextall added Alex Lyon may be called upon to play, but with points so precious at this point in the season, he reiterated the hope is Neuvirth will step up in Elliott's absence.

In 18 appearances this season, Neuvirth has posted a record of 7-7-2 with a .917 save percentage.