Dale Weise, Jori Lehtera may return to Flyers' lineup in Pittsburgh

Based on Sunday's practice in Voorhees, young wingers Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier will come out of the Flyers' lineup and will be replaced by veterans Dale Weise and Jori Lehtera in Pittsburgh on Monday.

All four players have been unproductive.

Weal has one goal in his last 19 games. Leier has one goal in 21 games, though he did score two games ago against the Islanders.  Weise has one goal in his last 11 games, and Lehtera has not scored in any his 14 games this season.

It appears defenseman Andrew MacDonald will return to the lineup after missing 15 games with a leg injury. The Flyers won just three of those 15 games (3-6-6).

At practice, MacDonald was back on the first pairing with Ivan Provorov. The other D pairings: Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg, and Brandon Manning and Travis Sanheim.

Samuel Morin, who gave the Flyers a physical presence in his two games here but was caught out of position on occasion, could be headed back to the Phantoms.

Lehtera and Weise were on a fourth line Sunday that was centered by Scott Laughton.

"Those two players have been out of the lineup for a couple nights and have done a lot of work," coach Dave Hakstol said, referring to Lehtera and Weise. "If they come back in, there's certain elements that they bring that are probably a little bit different than what Taylor and Jordan bring."

Hakstol said Lehtera "brings a heaviness" to the lineup.

Weal, who scored eight goals in his final 19 games last season, has been "working hard. He hasn't changed anything in terms of his work ethic or his tenacity," Hakstol said. "Things just haven't happened for him. It's a hard league to score in, no question about that. Sometimes the harder you try, the tougher things go for you."

As for Leier, he took his expected benching in stride.

"I try not to get too high or too low," he said. "There's always a lot of variables that go into every situation. It is what it is. That's hockey. There's 14 forwards ready to play, and sometimes you want to mix it up when there's a losing streak."

Added Leier: "Everyone wants results, including myself. I'm sure all of us will do whatever it takes to get wins."

The Flyers (8-9-6) have lost seven straight games; they last lost eight in a row in February of 2008, and that team recovered and went to the Eastern Conference finals that season.