Wounded Flyers highlight weekend on ice

Can he ever stay healthy?

Trailing the New York Rangers for the lead in the Atlantic Division at this point in the season was not exactly where the Philadelphia Flyers pictured themselves. However, considering the number of players currently sitting in the Flyers’ infirmary, it’s a wonder that they’re only a few points back of the division lead. And hey, at least they’re ahead of the rival New Jersey Devils.

Philadelphia’s list of wounded players heading into Saturday afternoon’s game against Marian Gaborik and the Minnesota Wild: defenseman Eric Desjardins, goaltender Robert Esche, center Peter Forsberg, defenseman Joni Pitkanen, and center Keith Primeau. Key defensemen Desjardins and Pitkanen are the worst off right now, with Desjardins out until at least the league’s Olympic break with a torn labrum and Pitkanen out another 4-6 weeks as he recovers from abdominal surgery.

Forsberg was only expected to miss a couple of days when he first suffered his groin injury, but that ‘day-to-day’ status has progressed into an ‘out indefinitely’ as the problem has been determined to be a tear, not a strain. Primeau hasn’t even begun skating again since suffering a concussion earlier in the season, although the post-concussion symptoms are reported to be subsiding for the Flyers’ team captain.

Esche was originally feared to have a sports hernia, but is now only expected to be sidelined another week with a small groin muscle tear. Starting in his place has been rookie netminder Antero Niittymaki, who shut out the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and then dropped a 3-2 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Niittymaki has not allowed more than three goals in a start since giving up seven in a high-scoring loss to the Carolina Panthers back on October 28.

Another team suffering through injuries, the Columbus Blue Jackets, have two games on tap this weekend after getting a break in the earlier part of the week. David Vyborny, Manny Malholtra, and Adam Foote all returned to action for the Blue Jackets on Thursday night as Columbus used a shootout to defeat the New York Islanders by a 4-3 score. Rick Nash remains out of the Columbus lineup, but has at least started skating.

Sergei Fedorov scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket (and his first goal of the season) in Thursday night’s victory. Foote and Nikolai Zherdev also scored for Columbus in the game, while Mike York, Trent Hunter, and Mark Parrish replied for the Islanders during regulation time. Breakaway artist Vyborny had the shootout winner for the Blue Jackets.

Columbus travels to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers on Friday night, and then goes back home to host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Also on the schedule for Friday night is Detroit at Washington, Colorado at New Jersey, and Ottawa at Vancouver.

The Senators won’t have Martin Havlat in the lineup against the Canucks, as the scoring winger will miss at least three months of action after he undergoes his upcoming shoulder surgery. Havlat’s replacement on the roster, rookie winger Brandon Bochenski, had a hat trick in the team’s win over the Florida Panthers on Monday night so don’t expect Ottawa’s scoring well to run dry in Havlat’s absence.

Ottawa continues their swing through western Canada on Saturday night, with a game in Calgary against Jarome Iginla and the Flames. Also on the slate for Saturday is Florida at Los Angeles, Dallas at Toronto, Anaheim at Montreal, Edmonton at the New York Islanders, Colorado at Pittsburgh, Nashville at Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers at St. Louis, and Carolina at San Jose.