VOORHEES, N.J. - Philadelphia Flyers left wing Dmitry Afanasenkov has received increased playing time due to recent trades and injuries, and has responded with some of his best hockey of the season.

Afanasenkov, acquired from Tampa Bay earlier this season, has posted three goals and three assists in his last six games.

The 26-year-old from Arkhangelsk, Russia, is a restricted free agent with an expiring contract, so he has incentive to compete hard the remaining month of the season. Known as a role player, Afanasenkov has shown the ability to play on a skill line, which he is doing now with Sami Kapanen and Mike Richards.

Afanasenkov had the Flyers' only goal in a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Philadelphia.

"He's got a very high skill level, great hands and the thing that makes him a very good player is that he's very competitive on the puck," coach John Stevens said. "He can check the other team's top line in their end. Dmitry might have more offensive potential than he's shown up to this point in his career."

Afanasenkov began his career as more of an offensive-minded player, but Tampa coach John Tortorella worked tirelessly to make him better on defense.

By the spring of 2004, Afanasenkov found himself on the ice for the crucial last minutes of both the Eastern Conference finals against the Flyers and the Stanley Cup finals against Calgary.

"(Tampa) tried to get me to focus on defense," he said. "Maybe I lost a little bit of my scoring, but if you want to play in this league, you need to play defense first."

Afanasenkov said that a new contract is not a high priority, that it's up to the Flyers to open negotiations in the offseason and that right now he just wants to focus on the game.

After averaging about 10 minutes per game this season, Afanasenkov has seen his ice time go up to about 15 minutes a night since Peter Forsberg was traded and Mike Knuble was injured.

"For me, it doesn't matter if I play second line or fourth line," Afanasenkov said. "The ice time counts the most. It was difficult when I first got here. But after I met the guys and got to know everyone, it was very good. I want to play here."