Wayne Simmonds will be in the lineup tonight at TD Garden as the Flyers open their season against the Bruins.
He completed a third, straight day of hard skating and practice on the ice without incident. He has a bruised left foot from being hit by a shot last week against the Rangers in exhibition play.
He will play right on Sean Couturier's line with Matt Read.
“I feel good and I’m ready to go,” Simmonds said. “I kept optimistic and kept working toward the goal of getting back into the lineup tonight.”
He had been in a walking boot earlier this week and even coach Craig Berube wasn't certain he would play.
Simmonds is the Flyers newest alternate captain for the season along with Mark Streit.
“We’ve got a ton of leaders in here,” Simmonds said. “There’s numerous guys who could have worn the “A” this year. This is a huge honor for me, to have that [letter] on my jersey.”
Streit captained the Islanders for two seasons prior to joining the Flyers.
"Their history, the way they treat players so well," Streit said. "It’s a great sports town. A lot of fans, great practice facility and everything is first class. To be named an assistant captain of such a storied franchise is just a huge honor. There’s also great responsibility.”
Flyers captain Claude Giroux said the team is very conscious about it's 1-7 start to last season and how that needs to change tonight.
“We talk about it and how hard it was us for us to get back into the playoffs,” Giroux said. “As it was, we don’t want to put ourselves in that situation again. We need to put ourselves in a better position early this season.”
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