Flyers place Tyson Foerster on injured reserve, recall Emil Andrae
Foerster, who missed Sunday's game after blocking a shot on Saturday, is tied for second on the team with four goals.
After a mostly healthy start to the season, the injuries are starting to pile up for the Flyers.
The team placed Tyson Foerster on injured reserve Monday with a lower-body injury, retroactive to Saturday. He did not play Sunday in the Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, and according to a source, it looks like he will miss 10-14 days. Foerster must miss a minimum of seven days and won’t be eligible to play in a game again until Nov. 12 against Edmonton.
» READ MORE: Rick Tocchet wants to see ‘some will’ — and more shots on goal — from his Flyers
The Flyers recalled defenseman Emil Andrae from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to fill the open spot on the 23-man roster. He also was called up last Tuesday and played a few ticks above 15 minutes in Thursday’s win against the Nashville Predators.
Andrae was sent down the next day, with the status of captain Sean Couturier uncertain after he was hit by a shot from teammate Noah Juulsen in the first period Thursday. Couturier did not play Saturday but returned to the lineup against Calgary.
“Emil [Andrae] got sent down, not because of his play, just a roster situation, a puzzle,” coach Rick Tocchet said Saturday. “We needed a centerman up here, because Coots was touch-and-go — still game-time decision — so we wanted a right-handed centerman, which is [Jacob Gaucher].”
Gaucher remains with the club as the Flyers head on a two-game road trip, beginning Tuesday in Montreal (7 p.m., NBCSP). They play the Predators on Thursday (8 p.m., NBCSP).
Foerster, who has four goals and seven points in 11 games this season, blocked a slap shot by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly in the Flyers’ zone with 13 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first period Saturday. The shot appeared to hit him on the inside of the left ankle, and after Auston Matthews tied the score at 1 seconds later, Foerster went down in pain.
The winger went down the tunnel immediately but returned and played the rest of the game. He scored his fourth goal of the season in the third period on a power play.
“He’s not going to play the next few games,” Tocchet said Sunday. “We’ll reevaluate in three to four days, type of thing. He blocked that shot, so we’re not trying to hide anything. So we’ll see what happens from there.”
» READ MORE: Revisiting the Flyers-Flames trade that sent Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to Calgary
Tocchet said that Foerster remaining in the game did not make the injury worse.
The line of Foerster, Bobby Brink, and Noah Cates has been one of the Flyers — and the NHL’s — best. Only 11 trios have played more than 100 minutes together this season, and entering Sunday, according to Money Puck, the Cates line had the lowest expected goals against (3.9) despite playing against the opposition’s top lines every night.
Owen Tippett was moved into Foerster’s spot on the line for Sunday. According to Natural Stat Trick, last season, Tippett, Cates, and Brink played just 6:51 together at five-on-five and were outchanced four to seven. They did not connect on a goal but also were not on the ice for one against.
Foerster’s absence was felt heavily Sunday. His loss and the moving of Tippett led to the blender being turned on for the other lines several times across the night. The Flyers were unable to generate much offense or a net-front presence.
However, the addition of Andrae, a puck-moving defenseman, should help. He played well on Thursday, showing that his fight is bigger than his 5-foot-9 frame in the defensive zone and helping to create time and space offensively.