
For Tuesday night’s game at Utah, Deslauriers was scheduled to return to action for the first time since he was hurt back on Nov. 9 in a game against Florida.
While he missed the competition during the lengthy absence, he said the hardest thing he had to deal with was being away from his teammates so long.
“Just being back with the boys, I missed a lot of trips,” he said after Tuesday’s pre-game skate in Salt Lake City. “But now it’s exciting.
“You don’t have the same bond, like when you’re on the road. Missed the California trip (during the holiday week) and that was a long one. Coming back here was good. I put the work in and I was ready for this one.”
His thoughts on the recent team scoring slump and how to get out of it?
“Shoot the puck more,” he said. “Stick together. Those bounces, sometimes you have to create them. Play a simple game, bring the physicality. Every shot is a great shot so we just have to shoot the puck more.”>Ristolainen out
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who left during Sunday’s game with an injury, was scratched from the Utah game.
Also out of the lineup: Defenseman Egor Zamula, center Ryan Poehling and forward Owen Tippett.
>Tortorella’s thoughts
Coach John Tortorella, mindful of a 180-minute scoring drought, indicated he didn’t have to say much to his players at the pre-game skate. They know the situation they’re in.
“I trust the group,” he said. “I never have to worry about their effort. And I just think the effort, and being as tight as they are, carries you through some of the tough times.
“We’re in a little bit of a jam right now.”
Tortorella likes what he saw of rookie Jacob Gaucher’s first game against the Avalanche on Sunday.
“Certainly wasn’t out of place,” the coach said. “Couple shots on goal. You can see he thinks the game. I thought he had a really good first game, wish I could have played him more but we were chasing the game a little bit there.”
Not having some of his veteran scorers in the lineup makes the task of generating offense that much tougher for the coach.
He was still hoping to get the two players from the Calgary Flames that the Flyers traded for on Thursday night – Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier – possibly show up at the last minute and play in this game.
“It’s not frustration,” Tortorella said . “It’s just natural that it’s in the back of your mind: ‘I’ve got to bury this chance.’ So that stuff builds up. Hopefully we can get some flow, something will go in for us.”