Coach Alain Vigneault wore a somber expression as he sat down for Monday’s press briefing at the Flyers Training Center and there was a significant reason for his unhappiness.
He had learned defenseman Ryan Ellis, who on Saturday night at Dallas had just returned from a hip/groin injury absence’, had reinjured himself and is now listed as out again on a week to week basis.
That’s a big blow to the 7-4-2 Flyers’ backline.
“Ryan reinjured himself during the game,’’ Vigneault said. “We’re getting him re-evaluated. I would say now the timeline is week to week.’’
Nick Seeler, who has been filling in for Ellis, will return to that role.
“There are some issues there (with Ellis),’’ Vigneault said. “Hopefully we get him back in the near future.’’
Ellis was originally paired with Ivan Provorov on the top unit. That partnership is back in limbo.
“It’s unfortunate,’’ Provorov said. “Ryan was only able to play three games. To go through all that rehab, then to come out just to get hurt again, it’s definitely tough mentally for him. I think he should take all the time he needs and come back when he is ready.’’
Meanwhile, the other headline for the day was news that Vigneault is benching Oskar Lindblom for Tuesday night’s game against Calgary. Lindblom has yet to score a goal this season.
“Oskar has been working extremely hard,’’ Vigneault said. “I really liked the way his game was trending. He was doing a lot of the right things. Last game he may have had a bit of a tougher game. So we are going to use tomorrow as sort of a reset. I told him I have a lot of faith thst he will get back to where he was before. It’s going to take time and patience.’’
Captain Claude Giroux had similar thoughts,
“He’s getting chances,’’ Giroux said. “He’s not getting the bounces now. Maybe a reset is what he needs, take a step back. Knowing Oskar, he puts more pressure on himself than he needs to. I really feel he’s not far off.’’
>Evening the score
The Flyers would like to avenge a 4-0 loss at Calgary last month. Philadelphia was finishing up three games in four nights and just didn’t have the legs.
“We had four shots on net 35 minutes into the game,’’ Provolov noted. “I don’t think that’s us. Hopefully we can keep those games to a minimum. We’re going to come out way better,’’
Added Giroux: “It wasn’t our best game. To rebound against this team is going to be pretty big for us.’’
