In a move that was completely unsurprising, the Flyers announced on Saturday that defenseman Ryan Parent will undergo back surgery on Monday.

The Daily News first reported on Jan. 4 that Parent has a herniated disc in his lower back that could possibly need surgery.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren refuted the claim the following day.

"Ryan Parent will have surgery on Monday, January 25th to remove a disc fragment from his lumbar spine," Holmgren said Saturday in a statement.

Holmgren acknowledged last week that Parent, 22, had suffered "setbacks" in his effort to try and play through the injury. Parent has missed the last 14 games and has not skated with the team since Dec. 26.

The fact that Parent's disc was past the point of "bulging," as it was when the Flyers first acquired him from Nashville in Feb. 2007, left the Flyers little options. It was a debilitating injury. According to a medical source, this surgery will remove a piece of bone fragment that was lodged in his spine.

Parent missed 23 games in 2006-07, his final year of juniors with the Guelph Storm, because of the bulging disc.

"After running the gamut with Ryan in terms of different things we have tried to relieve the discomfort he was having, we felt this was the way to go for Ryan’s overall health. The surgery is minimally invasive and will keep Ryan out for approximately six weeks," Holmgren said Saturday.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Scott Rushton at Lankenau Hospital on Monday. Because it is minimally invasive, Parent has a chance to return to the lineup this season - sometime around March 8.

"Unlike conventional surgery which requires a lengthy incision and would most likely preclude Parent from returning to the ice this season, minimally-invasive spinal surgery (MISS) is performed through an opening roughly the size of a nickel using a device similar to an arthroscope," a medical source told the Daily News.

On the heels of a well-played, 2-0 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night – which brought the Flyers just two points out of 6th place in the Eastern Conference – let’s take a look at the playoff picture.

According to PlayoffStatus.com, the Flyers have a 69% chance of making the playoffs this season: (Whether or not they should be in this position is another discussion for another time).

Note: All unplayed games (for the rest of the season) are assumed won/lost with a probability based upon relative team strengths.

The Flyers, currently last in the Atlantic division, have less than a 1% chance of winning the division.

But here’s the breakdown for the rest of the spots:

8% chance to grab 4th place
18% chance for 5th place
17% chance for 6th place
14% chance for 7th place
12% chance for 8th place

That leaves a 31% shot to not make the playoffs. Sounds high, doesn't it? That number tells you how much that 3-13-1 spell hurt the Flyers this season.

In all honesty, beyond 4th place – which gives you home-ice advantage in the first round – it doesn’t much matter where you finish. It matters more how you’re playing when you get there.

Interestingly, the Rangers and Islanders - who are ahead of the Flyers now - have a much better shot to miss the playoffs entirely. The Islanders (who sneakily have the 2nd most amount of points since Dec. 23) have a 56% chance of missing and the Rangers have a 53% shot.

The Flyers have 33 games remaining on their schedule. PlayoffStatus gives probabilities for spots based on what percentage of the remaining games they win:

If they win 18 of 33, they have a 40% chance of picking up 6th place.

IF – and this is a big IF – the Flyers win 71% of their games down the stretch (as they have since Dec. 23), the Flyers would have a 51% chance at 4th place and 44% shot at 5th place. That's something to shoot for.

Still, as it stands now, the Flyers have just a 25% chance of making it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

That could change pretty quickly if they keep rolling at this rate.

Slap shots
Danny Briere did not take part in practice on Friday at the Flyers Skate Zone. He also did not skate on Wednesday ... Peter Laviolette named Ray Emery as his starter tomorrow, though Michael Leighton - in an interview prior to Laviolette's - said that he was "excited" to play against Carolina.

Umberger doing the dirty work on Tuesday night.

R.J. Umberger never wanted to leave Philadelphia.

The Flyers tattoo, that you can read about in Wednesday’s Daily News, could probably tell you that much alone.

So could his play last night. Umberger nearly stole the spotlight from Jeff Carter and the Flyers as he scored two goals and came inches away from the hat trick.

In fact, Umberger was so close to tipping a point shot from Antoine Stralman behind Ray Emery that mans fans thought he did – and threw hundreds of hats on Orange Crush baseball cap giveaway night onto the ice.

It was the first time I’ve ever seen fans celebrate an alleged hat trick for an opposing player.

But Umberger wasn’t just any opposing player. In a string of “Sucks!” chants in response to the Blue Jackets’ starters being announced in warmups, Umberger was the only player to draw a cheer.

And he was stunned by the hats.

“With them noticing the effort I put in here and how much it meant for me to be a Flyer, it was a great feeling,” Umberger said.

Umberger single-handedly erased a 2-0 deficit for Columbus and made it 2-2. The Flyers went on to win, 5-3, after Carter responded for the Flyers.

Umberger said before the game that he “poured his soul” into being a Flyer. Remember that hit from Brian Campbell in the first OT of Game 1 of that Flyers / Sabres playoff series in 2006? What about those 10 goals in the 2008 playoff run that got the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals? Umberger played the game right in Philadelphia.

He was traded to Columbus on Draft day in 2008. The deal was essentially for Luca Sbisa and third round pick Marc-Andre Bourdon. Sbisa was traded to Anaheim. Bourdon plays for the Phantoms. Umberger scored 20 goals last season.

For a few minutes on Tuesday night, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren probably wished he could take that one back.

Leighton was forced to try and make saves like this one, nearly impossible, on Thursday.

WASHINGTON – Michael Leighton knows.

So does Ray Emery and Brian Boucher. So do the rest of the Flyers, for that matter.

Peter Laviolette made the decision on who is goaltender will be on Sunday, when the Flyers take on the Capitals here in Washington. He just hasn’t told anyone outside the organization yet.

“We will probably sit on this one until game time and go from there,” Laviolette said Saturday. “I know they all want to play.”

That’s no lie. But if Boucher and Emery were Leighton, as Laviolette admitted this week, they would want to be given another start. Leighton is 8-1-1 in 12 starts (including one no-decision) with the Flyers.

His first loss came last game in Toronto. Laviolette reiterated again on Saturday that the Flyers left Leighton out to dry.

Believe it or not, I think Thursday was one of Leighton’s best starts as a Flyer. No goalie in the NHL would have stopped at least three of Toronto’s four goals. Not only were they perfectly placed in the top corner, Leighton had multiple options to worry about besides just the shooter – as many of those goals came on odd-man rushes.

Unfortunately for Leighton, that doesn’t mean he will be given another start.

A loss – his first one – is the perfect excuse to give Emery back the job he lost when he went down with an abdominal tear.

But here’s why Emery should not start:

His last NHL game was on Dec. 5. It was Laviolette’s first game as the Flyers’ bench boss. Do you remember the opponent?

That’s right, the Washington Capitals. Emery let in 5 goals on 17 shots and was pulled just 11 minutes into the second period. The Flyers went on to lose 8-2.

Obviously, Emery was not healthy at the time. He had surgery to repair that tear four days later.

But Alex Ovechkin (62 points in 39 games), fresh off a 5 point performance against those Leafs on Friday night, and the Capitals are a tough team to face when you’ve been off for more than six weeks. Washington averages 3.68 goals per game, more than .41 goals per game closer than the next most lethal team in the NHL.

During this run, Laviolette has said all along that Leighton deserves to be back in net for the next game.

That’s still true. Especially after Thursday’s loss. He has helped the Flyers focus on not just making the playoffs - something that seemed doubtful before he started - but look towards home ice advantage.

Slap shots
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said both Darroll Powe (upper body injury) and Scott Hartnell (flu) will be ready to play on Sunday … According to the Washington Post, Brian Pothier and John Erskine are still questionable for Sunday. Alex Semin did not practice on Saturday (sore wrist).

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News updates the action direct from the rink - via his Twitter account - as the Flyers take on the Maple Leafs tonight.

Dan Carcillo lit up the Maple Leafs on Jan. 6 with a highlight reel goal.

TORONTO – Even though they spent most of their media availability after today’s morning skate denying it, the Maple Leafs want blood.

It's painfully obvious. You need to look no further than their transactions yesterday to know that.

They were clearly embarrassed when they were outworked, outhit and outmuscled by the Flyers in a 6-2 loss last week. It probably didn't help that they were beaten by the NHL's worst team, Carolina, on Tuesday.

Enter: Jay Rosehill from the minors. The 6-3, 210 pound goon racked up 275 penalty minutes last year in the AHL.

The Leafs didn’t call upon Rosehill for his scoring prowess, right? He has two points and 122 penalty minutes this season for the Toronto Marlies.

“Jay was brought up here to provide energy and help along the boards,” Leafs coach Ron Wilson said after he was given a public vote of confidence by GM Brian Burke. “Often when these things are built up like this, nothing happens.”

Rosehill, too, said “if something happens, it happens.”

Dan Carcillo – who answered a long string of silly questions from Toronto reporters today – wouldn’t dignify Rosehill’s call-up.

“We probably don’t need to fight guys who play three minutes a game,” Carcillo said.

Carcillo was fined $2,500 for making a throat-slitting motion at Leafs assistant coach Keith Acton when the Flyers pummeled Toronto, 6-2, just 8 days ago. He was asked things like "are you an angry person?" and "what happens, do you flip a switch?"

The two teams combined for four fights and 80 penalty minutes last time.

That’s why I have a feeling Flyers coach Peter Laviolette will insert Riley Cote into the lineup tonight. Cote, who shaved off his long locks over the weekend, hasn’t played since Dec. 21 against Florida. In that game, he played just 64 seconds. He has only dressed in 12 games all season.

Laviolette wouldn’t confirm or deny an addition for Cote.

“We’re still making up our minds on the lineup decisions for tonight, so I’m not going to comment on any changes right now,” Laviolette said at the Air Canada Centre.

I’m getting the notion that if Cote was not going to dress, Laviolette probably would have just said “no” when asked. The question - if that's true - is who would sit out? The Flyers' four lines have been clicking, scoring 44 goals in the last 10 games.

“We’re here to play hard, compete like crazy and make sure we come out with the two points,” Laviolette said. “We’re going to battle, hit, skate and hopefully score some goals.”

Slap shots

• The Leafs are just 3-8-2 in their last 13 games. Prized acquisition Phil Kessel has just one goal in that span.
• Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is definitely back in the lineup tonight but Laviolette hasn’t said who he will be paired with.
• Scott Hartnell said he had a “24-hour virus” and is feeling much better now.
• Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter did not take part in the morning skate but will play tonight.

Follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers for the latest updates.

FSN Pittsburgh has suspended an employee, the son of a former Penguins player because of a goal-review incident last week against the Flyers at Mellon Arena, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Lowell MacDonald Jr., son of former Penguins player Lowell MacDonald and a member of FSN's telecast staff, was indefinitely suspended by the network. The controversy was a review of a play to determine if Simon Gagne scored a goal in the the second period of a Flyers' victory. FSN Pittsburgh had a replay that showed the puck crossing the goal line but the replay was not sent to the NHL review booth in Toronto. The replay was not aired on local television until after the review was concluded.

The Post-Gazette reported that in a statement, FSN Pittsburgh said, "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

The Penguins also issued a statement: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

 

The NHL is investigating Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh for not sending all available camera angles to league headquarters in Toronto for Simon Gagne’s apparent goal that was under review against the Penguins last Thursday, league spokesman Gary Meagher confirmed to the Daily News.

FSN Pittsburgh, who had the game’s only video feed, sent all of the camera angles of the replay except the one that clearly showed the puck over the goal line.

Comcast SportsNet elected to not use their own video feed during the game, one CSN employee said on Monday. CSN would have been able to send their own replays to the NHL's War Room in Toronto if they had used their own feed.

"Hockey Operations did not have a definitive replay that showed the puck in the net - and weren't aware that one existed - until after they made their ruling," said John Dellapina, another NHL spokesman. "Once the puck dropped, their ruling became permanent."

Video of the angle in question is shown below.

It is not yet clear whether FSN Pittsburgh purposely excluded the angle or it was an unintentional oversight, though one Penguins announcer can be heard saying “we saved that one” on the broadcast.

A message left for FSN Pittsburgh after business hours on Monday has not yet been returned.

The play was ruled no-goal by officials for “inconclusive evidence."

The non-goal, which wound up not impacting the 7-4 final score, would have given the Flyers a 6-3 lead heading into the second intermission. Coincidentally, the game was the second most watched Penguins regular season telecast ever.

The NHL has given no indication as to length of the investigation or what penalties may come of it.

Said Meagher: "It's a matter between the League, the Penguins and FSN that will be handled internally."