Coburn shakes off rust, aids Flyers' win
Since returning from a foot injury two weeks ago, defenseman Braydon Coburn has struggled to regain his form.
But Coburn, who missed a month of the season, is starting to find his rhythm, and he had his best game of the year Saturday night, contributing a goal and an assist as the Flyers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Columbus at the Wells Fargo Center.
"We had a lot of momentum all game," said Coburn after the Flyers outshot the Blue Jackets, 37-22, and he had the 19th multi-point game of his career.
Coburn has been a rusty from the long layoff, but he said he has felt better the last two games _ and that he was starting to hit his stride.
That said, he believes there are a "lot of areas I can improve on offensively. I have some things I have to work on _ keeping pucks alive and ….shooting the puck from the point. It was nice to have a little bit of success tonight."
His goal was his first of the season _ and second of the night for a Flyers defenseman. Mark Streit had the other one.
The Flyers finally have all eight defensemen healthy, and here is a chance Carlo Colaiacovo will be sent down to the Phantoms.
Michael Del Zotto returned to the lineup Saturday after missing one game with an unspecified injury. Because coach Craig Berube wasn't sure if Del Zotto would have a relapse, he went with seven defensemen for the first time since he began coaching the team early last season.
Berube may dress six defensemen Monday and go with 12 forwards against the speedy Islanders.
If that's the case, defenseman Luke Schenn could be a healthy scratch. Jason Zucker got position on Schenn and scored the winning goal with 45 seconds left in Minnesota's 3-2 victory Thursday. On Saturday, Matt Calvert outmuscled Schenn in front of the net and scored to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 17:54 left.
It was the only shift Schenn played in the final period.
Monday will start a difficult stretch in which the Flyers play seven of their next eight games on the road. The Isles (14-6) will be the first opponent in that span.
"They've gotten bigger and better on the blue line," winger Jake Voracek said. "They've got a great goalie in (Jaroslav) Halak, and their offense is skating very well. It's going to be a very tough game.
Breakaways. Voracek, who leads the NHL with 29 points, had his 10th multi-point game this season. Voracek on the scoring race: "I don't really care about it right now."….Claude Giroux went 23-for-28 (82 percent) in the faceoff circle. It was the first time since 2005 (Michael Handzus) that a Flyer won that many faceoffs, per the Elias Sports Bureau….Columbus was missing six inured regulars….The Flyers will practice in Voorhees Sunday at 11:30 a.m.