It's official: the Philadelphia Flyers will welcome Vincent Lecavalier back to the lineup Thursday when they face the downtrodden New York Rangers, but there's been a slight lineup change because of it.
Lecavalier, who has missed the past three games with a lower-body
injury, skated at right wing on the team's top line at the morning practice session, with fellow French-Canadian Claude Giroux at center and rookie Michael Raffl on the other side.
"I want to be out there and be part of it," Lecavalier said to NHL.com this afternoon. "We're
doing some good things. It's hard to [see it that way] when you are 1-7,
but we want to keep pushing and I want to help as much as I can. "The chances are there and that's a positive. I love [playing with
Giroux]. He's a smart player who makes quick little plays. He's easy to
play with. It's been going really good in practices. When you are with
him and you look at the way he thinks out there, he's special."
Recent call-up Tye McGinn spent time on the top line with Giroux before this unnatural seven-day break in the schedule, and responded with three goals -- a team best -- in three games. While Raffl has shown the ability to hang in a North American rink, it hasn't translated into goals or points yet.
New York holds an impressive 18-7-2 regular-season record in Philadelphia since the resumption of play in 2005, but the Flyers won two of three on home ice against the Blueshirts last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment