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PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Flyers will have to do without defenceman Braydon Coburn in their bid to stay alive in the NHL playoffs.
After the Flyers' morning skate in preparation for Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins it was determined the swelling in Coburn's left eye has not receded enough to allow him to play. Coburn was hit on the eye by a puck in the second game of the Eastern Conference final and hoped to return to the lineup on Thursday.
For the second game in a row, the Flyers will have to do without their top two defencemen. Kimmo Timonen was lost just before the series started because of a blood clot in his ankle.
"He got on the ice a little bit [Wednesday]," Flyers head coach John Stevens said of Coburn. "He felt okay. The swelling has gone down on the eyes. He can see, but he just doesn't feel quite ready to get back in and play.
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury bounces a puck on his stick as he skates warm-up laps during practice at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Wednesday. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
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"I don't think there are any setbacks. But he's not there yet. I'm hopeful he's getting closer."
The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 and Stevens will shuffle three of his four lines in hopes of rousing the Flyers' stalled offence. Daniel Briere and Vinnie Prospal, who have been particularly unproductive against the Penguins, will be split up for Thursday's game.
Briere will play centre between Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards, who has been the Flyers' best forward in the series. Prospal will move from left wing to centre between R.J. Umberger and Joffrey Lupul. The only line to stay intact was the third line of centre Jeff Carter and wingers Scott Upshall and Mike Knuble.
Stevens also yanked fourth-line winger Steve Downie out of the lineup and replaced him with Patrick Thoresen. Downie replaced Thoresen in the lineup for Games 3 and 4.
But Downie's mistakes in those games resulted in the winning goals for both games. He compounded his giveaway in the fourth game by skating the length of the ice and decking Penguins winger Petr Sykora well after the winning goal was scored.
Stevens, who was harsh in his comments about Downie after the loss on Tuesday night, was a softer on the rookie after Thursday's skate.
"We'll put Patty [Thoresen] back in there, and that's just a learning experience [for Downie]," he said. "Any time a young player goes in, comes out and goes back in, they're better prepared the next time.
"I'm actually going to meet with [Downie] again here [Thursday] when he gets off the ice, and make sure it's very clear the areas that he needs to get better at, and the things he needs to do to get back in [the lineup]."
