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Flyers left winger Michael Raffl will miss 4-6 weeks

Michael Raffl was crunched into the boards by Patrik Nemeth in Monday's 4-1 loss to the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov looks at Flyers left winger Michael Raffl who struggles to get up after being checked into the boards by the Avalanches' Avalanche's Patrik Nemeth on Monday. Raffl will be sidelined four to six weeks with a suspected left-foot injury.
Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov looks at Flyers left winger Michael Raffl who struggles to get up after being checked into the boards by the Avalanches' Avalanche's Patrik Nemeth on Monday. Raffl will be sidelined four to six weeks with a suspected left-foot injury.Read moreTOM MIHALEK
    by Sam Carchidi | Columnist
    Updated 
    Published 

Left winger Michael Raffl, who appeared to injure his left foot in Monday's 4-1 loss to visiting Colorado, will miss four to six weeks, general manger Ron Hextall announced Tuesday.

Raffl, a strong puck-possession player, was injured when crunched into the boards by Patrik Nemeth late in the second period.

Corban Knight might replace Raffl (two assists, "even" rating over nine games) on the fourth line and penalty-killing unit.

"We've got other guys who can play," said Hextall, adding he doesn't plan to recall a player from the AHL's Phantoms. "Other teams lose players. We've got to move on here. Raf will be back in four to six weeks and we'll welcome him back, but right now we don't have him, so someone else has to go in and get the job done."

If in the lineup, Knight could be paired with Scott Laughton on the penalty kill, like they were when they were with the Phantoms.

"We killed a lot together in the minors, so we definitely have that familiarity," Knight said.

The penalty kill entered Tuesday ranked 30th in the 31-team league; the Flyers were  successful on just 68.8 percent of their attempts.

"Visually, our penalty killing has been better — it's been a lot better than last year," Hextall said. "Now the numbers obviously don't show that. … There's areas where we're doing a better job, but the sticks in lanes and the reads down low" can improve.

The power play is also struggling mightily, going 1 for its last 14 and falling into a tie for 19th in the NHL with a 17.6 percent success rate.