Flyers Notes: After being sidelined for Game 5, Flyers' Grossmann practices

In a surprising development, Flyers defenseman Nick Grossmann - who missed Friday's 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh with an apparent concussion - skated and took part in drills with Blair Betts, an unofficial assistant coach, in Voorhees on Saturday.

Grossmann later participated in the team's optional skate, but the Flyers wouldn't say whether he could play Sunday.

Encouraging is the word coach Peter Laviolette used when asked about Grossmann's being on the ice. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is arguably the Flyers' most physical defenseman and is also one of their best shot-blockers.

General manager Paul Holmgren would not allow Grossmann to talk to the media, saying he was day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Grossmann left Game 4 after absorbing punishing hits from Malkin and Tyler Kennedy. He was sidelined for Game 5.

Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who had back surgery March 21, skated before some of the other players took part in a short practice.

The Flyers had said Meszaros might be able to play late in the second playoff round, if they got that far.

As for Saturday's optional skate, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was one of 10 players who participated. The others: Grossmann, Jody Shelley, Tom Sestito, Andreas Lilja, Zac Rinaldo, Erik Gustafsson, Pavel Kubina, Brandon Manning, and Sergei Bobrovsky.

The NHL did not have a disciplinary hearing for Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, who delivered a questionable hit Friday on Sean Couturier. "You try not to let a guy like that get in your head . . . and hopefully capitalize on the power play," Scott Hartnell said of Malkin. . . . Claude Giroux needs one point to tie the franchise record for points in a playoff series - 12, by Bill Barber in 1980 and Danny Briere in 2010. . . . The Flyers haven't scored an even-strength goal in two-plus games. . . . Hartnell said the Flyers need to do a better job blocking shots. "Sacrifice and know those shots will only hurt for a couple of minutes, and [when] you get a big win, they won't feel as bad afterward," he said. . . . The Flyers are 6-8-2 in games that start between noon and 3 p.m.; they are 7-11-3 in games that start before 7 p.m. . . . The Penguins dressed seven defensemen and just 11 forwards in the last two games, enabling them to give some of their key offensive players more ice time. "It makes it more challenging to defend," Laviolette said.