Flyers' Bellemare suspended for one game

Flyers fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was suspended for one game Tuesday for his hit on the Capitals' Dmitry Orlov late in Washington's 6-1 win Monday.

Bellemare, who checked Orlov from behind and knocked him into the boards, will not be able to play in Game 4 Wednesday against the visiting Caps.

Orlov slowed down before being hit.

The NHL's suspension leaves the Flyers without two of their top penalty killers: Bellemare and Sean Couturier, who suffered a shoulder injury in Game 1.

Ryan White may move from right wing to center on the fourth line, and Colin McDonald could be inserted at right wing on that unit.

The Flyers are in the running for undrafted free agent Drake Caggiula, a smallish center/left winger who played three seasons at North Dakota under Dave Hakstol.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior helped North Dakota win the national title this season.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall met with Caggiula before and during Monday's game.

"We're one of many teams that is interested with him," Hextall said Tuesday at the team's practice facility in Voorhees. "I sat down and talked with him and he saw a game. Beyond that, I really don't have any idea. We think he's a good fit for us, but I'm sure a lot of other teams do, too."

Hextall believes Caggiula "has a shot at being a top-six" forward.

"He's a talented player, he's got speed, he plays hard," Hextall said. "He has a lot of good attributes."

Except for his size.

Hextall, whose team has been knocked around a bit in its playoff series with Washington, was asked if the Flyers were too small.

"It's something I said a year ago - we have to look at trying to bring some big forwards into the organization," he said, adding that he was pleased with the progress made by prospects Oskar Lindblom and Radel Fazleev, a pair of 6-1, 192-pound forwards. "It's a focus of ours moving forward and it has been for a while."

In the first three games of the series, Steve Mason has just an .852 save percentage - .922 at even strength and .714 when the team has been shorthanded.

After Monday's loss, members of Ed Snider's family met with the players in the locker room. Snider, 83, the Flyers' chairman and co-founder, died April 11.

"It was huge," winger Wayne Simmonds said of the visit and speech by one of Snider's sons, Jay, a former Flyers president. "Obviously, the whole night was dedicated to Mr. Snider. We didn't play the way we wanted to play for Mr. Snider, and his family comes in and had a few words to say, and it's definitely something that was uplifting."

The Flyers have trailed three-games-to-none in nine other series in their history. They have won Game 4 in just two of those series.