Flyers' Knuble says he won't be out long

Mike Knuble

thought that maybe a good night's rest would make his left hamstring feel better yesterday. One night of sleep, unfortunately, does not cure a tear.

"I wanted to see how it responded after a night's sleep and whether it calmed down, but it's still not there," the Flyers winger said. "I don't think it will be as long as Mike Richards' [similar injury]. Hopefully, we'll get through here and see what happens after that."

Richards missed about three weeks with a hamstring tear. Knuble will miss the remainder of the Flyers-Capitals series, with a chance that he could return late in the next round if the Flyers advance. Knuble tried to play in the third period after suffering the injury Saturday.

"I was trying to stretch it out," he said. "I wanted to see if it would come back, but no. I don't know what they're calling it. A partial tear, I guess."

He had never had such an injury.

"My durability has been something I've been very good with," Knuble said. "Hopefully, it will straighten itself out fast. It's a chance for someone else to come in, and maybe that guy will be the difference in the game."

Riley Cote is expected to return to the lineup, with R.J. Umberger assuming Knuble's role on the power play.

Caps coach

Bruce Boudreau

talking about

Sergei Fedorov:

"Like a fine wine, isn't he? We didn't win many face-offs, but he won them. He made plays. He slowed it down, and he's good on the bench. He's the one yelling at the guys to calm down. He's been through the wars. He's got all our experience in the playoffs."

If the Flyers are going to win this series, they might try harder to avoid contact with goalie

Cristobal Huet

.

"We know they are calling that goaltender interference pretty tight, especially this series, and if you look around the league, they are protecting goalies pretty good," said Scott Hartnell, one of the violators. "So we've got to limit running into the goalie, obviously. . . . We need to focus our energy and attitude on the game and getting shots on the net rather than on the refs."

Flyers defenseman

Jason Smith

blocked seven shots in the Game 5 loss, giving him 20 for the series. That tied him with Montreal's

Mike Komisarek

for the league lead. . . . Washington is 2-0 in the series when scoring first. . . . Fedorov's second-period goal Saturday was his first in the playoffs since April 16, 2003, when he scored for Detroit against Anaheim. . . .

Alex Ovechkin's

29 hits lead the series.

- Tim Panaccio