UPDATE 1:15 PM EDT
Per Bob McKenzie, the Flyers have placed Michael Leighton on re-entry waivers in an effort to carry him as an option for the postseason.
If he is claimed by another team, he would not be eligible to play for them in the playoffs. However, they would get him for next season at half of his $1.6M cap hit, with the other half going on the Flyers' cap.
Also, Danny Syvret is definitely still in the lineup. Nick Boynton did not accompany the team to Ottawa, per Frank Serevalli. No word as of yet on whether Boynton is injured.
****
Mini-Preview 9 AM EDT
With their magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division down to 3, the Flyers (46-22-11) will take to the road for two their three final games. Tonight, Philly will take on an Ottawa Senators (30-39-10) club that laid a 4-1 beating on them the last time the clubs met. The Flyers' performance in Ottawa on Feb. 26 was one of their worst of the season. Philly won the two previous meetings this season by a combined score of 11-3 (5-1 on Nov. 15 and 6-2 on Jan. 20).
The Flyers are just 3-3-4 in their last 10 games, and just haven't seemed to get in synch for more than one game at a time. When the club is playing solid team defense, the offense hasn't been producing. When the team is scoring, they are hurt by defensive lapses and blown leads. On a couple of occasions, the goaltending (which has been solid overall) has sprung a leak when the other parts have been working. The one nearly constant aspect has been the inability to get the power play going.
In the game against the New York Rangers on Sunday, Claude Giroux and players such as James van Riemsdyk (who has five goals and seven points in the last seven games) and Nikolay Zherdev were the best Flyers' forwards on the ice for the balance of the match. Sergei Bobrovsky had a strong game in goal. On the flip side, Ville Leino found himself benched in the third period and overtime.
The Flyers injuries have begun to mount. Danny Briere (groin pull) and Blair Betts (lower body) are both out for tonight. The club has called up Ben Holmstrom to round out the lineup. On defense, Danny Syvret played a good game against the Rangers and is likely to get another start tonight in place of Nick Boynton. Chris Pronger (hand surgery) is slated to return to the ice this week and resume his rehabilitation.
Ottawa has an even longer list of injuries. Daniel Alfredsson (back), Sergei Gonchar (concussion), Erik Karlsson (lacerated thigh), Marek Svatos (concussion) and Peter Regin (shoulder) are all out tonight and unlikely to play again this season.
*****
There was a role reversal with Ville Leino and Nikolay Zherdev on Sunday. In the game against the Rangers, Zherdev (who scored for the fourth time in five games against his former club; one quarter of his total goal output this season) was the one who was active and alert while Leino was the one who got the hook from Laviolette in order to "tighten things up."
I think Laviolette made the right call in that game. Ville looked to be moving in slow motion and, for whatever reason, did not seem mentally alert. Perhaps his ailing hip was acting up with the club playing for the third time in four days -- Laviolette, Paul Holmgren and Leino himself all denied that there were any physical cause of his subpar play and benching -- but injury denials are par for the course in hockey, especially come spring time (lest anyone be said to be making an excuse or let on to opponents what they can already figure out).
Whatever the reason, though, Leino was one of the least effective players on the ice for either side in the first two periods of Sunday's game, and sitting him was the right move.
As for Zherdev, we have seen several times this season that he plays well in the first couple games back after being a healthy scratch. Now he needs to follow through with similar efforts.
Even before the season started, it was a virtual lock that Zherdev would only be in Philadelphia one season. If he finally "got it", and played to his potential, the club wouldn't be able to afford his next contract. If the season went -- well, like it has gone -- they wouldn't want him back. From the beginning, Zherdev has been auditioning for his next contract and his next team.
Perhaps when he was waived and unclaimed -- even at a bargain pro-rated price -- the day before the trade deadline, he finally realized that there won't be another NHL taker next season if he doesn't get in gear. If that's true, though, he sure played himself back into the doghouse pretty quickly the last time he got an opportunity.
With so many injuries in the lineup, though, Zherdev is going to get another shot. Perhaps as with Leino last season, sitting out so many games as a healthy scratch this season will be a blessing in disguise. He is still fresh, while the opposition is warn down. If he truly wants it badly enough, there's a golden opportunity for Zherdev to earn his next NHL contract after all.
******
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at Joe Thornton. At age 31, he is one goal or assist away from joining the 1,000 point club for his regular season career. Nevertheless, he will remain one of the game's most maligned stars until/unless he has a big playoff run and his San Jose Sharks team at least reaches the Stanley Cup Final.
NBC Sports has made a decision to collapse the Versus.com web site and bring it in as a portion of nbcsports.com. As a result, the Versus.com hockey page will no longer exist as of next week when the regular season ends.
I have greatly enjoyed writing the Daily Drop these past two seasons. It has been a pleasure working with Tom Layberger -- who gave his writers a lot of editorial freedom and is a quality person in general -- and the other folks at Versus.com with whom I've dealt.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»