Injuries have plagued the Philadelphia Flyers all season long. Because that issue has also affected many other teams in the National Hockey League, it hasn't been used as an excuse by management.
Bryzgalov returns to the Flyers net tonight in a home game against the Devils.
Sean OBrien
The quick return to action by All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen (back issue) and winger Jakub Voracek (concussion watch) should help as the Flyers face the New Jersey Devils in the second half of a home-and-home series. The return of Ilya Bryzgalov between the pipes should also help to increase the team's chances of victory as well.
Kimmo and Jakub
Professional sports teams need to use rookies during the regular season for a variety of reasons. Some have a lack of depth and play their prospects for reasons of necessity. Others mix a few new faces in each season in order to continually refresh the existing core of their rosters. Then, there are teams like Philadelphia who have had to rely on some rookie defensemen and forwards throughout the season when various players have been out of action due to injury.
Playing without Timonen for any length of time was not something that head coach Peter Laviolette wanted to do. That's why he certainly must be happy to see that number 44 (Timonen) and number 93 (Voracek) were both available for tonight's game against the Devils.
Timonen has been inspirational this season, fully assuming the defensive leadership role when Chris Pronger left the ice for the last time in the fall. The soon-to-be 37-year-old's ever-steady blue line work, combined with his 36 points, have easily made him the team's best all-around defenseman.
Laviolette needs him to somehow keep his back healthy enough so that he is available throughout the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs. While the recently acquired Nicklas Grossmann has been playing 'Brad Marsh-like' defense ever since he was obtained from the Dallas Stars, the Flyers three defensive pairs are most elevated when Timonen is one part of them.
Voracek, who was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Jeff Carter deal, doesn't grab headlines. However, he has been a nice addition to the Flyers forward lines this season. His 12 goals and 23 assists, combined with his fine two-way performance, make him a plus player and someone who seems likely to remain with the club long-term.
Bryz is back
Ilya Bryzgalov played 11 consecutive games before being rested against the Devils over the weekend.
Every starting goaltender in the League is key to their team's overall success. Based on how 'Bryz' had been playing earlier in the season, there was no logical way that the Flyers were going to do any playoff damage.
Now that their number 1 netminder is focused, this team has a chance to make playoff progress as long as he and his teammates can remain steady through the end of the regular season. With that, they should move with momentum into the first round of the playoffs.
As the Flyers battle for postseason position with the Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins, the reality of eventually facing a dominant New York Rangers team looms somewhere down an iced spring road. But, that is another story for another day.
Sean O'Brien is based in the Philadelphia region. He has written professionally for over two decades and is currently a Featured Contributor for Yahoo! You can follow him on Twitter @SeanyOB and also read his daily Sports Blog: Insight.
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