Flyers activate Michal Neuvirth
The Flyers activated backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth before the start of the game Thursday and sent Jason LaBarbera to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Flyers activated backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth before the start of the game Thursday and sent Jason LaBarbera to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Neuvirth had been sidelined since leaving a game on Oct. 21 with an upper body injury. He was struck in the helmet by a stick after allowing a goal against Boston. Neuvirth had posted shutouts in his first two starts, filling in admirably for Steve Mason after the starter left the team to deal with a personal issue.
Mason started on Thursday. Coach Dave Hakstol said he did not know if Neuvirth would start one of the next two games. He said a "small part" of his decision depended on the outcome of Thursday's game with New Jersey. It is possible that Neuvirth would play on Tuesday in Edmonton if Mason starts on Friday and Monday.
"I have a plan in the back of my head," Hakstol said Thursday after the team finished a morning skate. "But that's where it will stay in the next few hours."
Voracek's drought
Jake Voracek entered Thursday without a goal in the season's first eight games. It is his longest scoring drought to start a season. Last year, he went scoreless in seven straight games between February and March.
"You've just got to go with a clear head and try to shoot the puck at the net and try to score the goal," Voracek told reporters on Wednesday. "It's not only with me. I would say every player goes through a goal drought - they start thinking too much. Maybe I'm thinking too much, but I know if I do my thing, I'll be fine."
Voracek finished last season with 22 goals.
"I think he's playing hard," Hakstol said. "He's doing a lot of things the right way. He's getting scoring opportunities. The puck's not going in for him."
Lecavalier returns
Thursday marked the first game of the season for veteran Vincent Lecavalier. The 35-year-old had been a healthy scratch for the first eight games of the season. His spot opened up with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare sidelined with a lower-body injury. Hakstol said it is important for Lecavalier to play "a simple, clean game." Less is more, Hakstol said, for a player who has not been in the lineup for a while.
"I want to play simple," Lecavalier said. "If plays are there, I'll try to make them. It's a game of hockey. You have to try to make things happen. I'm not just going to chip it in just to chip it in."
