Back surgery will keep Leighton out 6-8 weeks
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Back surgery will keep Leighton out 6-8 weeks
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
UPDATE: Flyers goalie Michael Leighton will have back surgery and miss six to eight weeks, the club announced on Friday.
Rookie Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher will handle the goaltending load.
More to come
****
Chris Pronger (knee) and Claude Giroux (ankle) are skating at Friday's practice in suburban St. Louis as the Flyers prepare for Saturday's 8 p.m. game against the host Blues.
Giroux, who scored a picturesque shorthanded goal in Thursday's 3-2 win in Pittsburgh, looks close to 100 percent. I'll get an update on Pronger's condition _ he is skating strong _ after practice.
Goalie Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky is expected to get the start Saturday. (Then again, veteran Brian Boucher was expected to start Thursday.) The 22-year-old rookie made 29 saves, including 15 in a sensational first period, to spark Thursday's win. "Bob" was also helped by four shots that hit the post.
Lost amid the Bobrovsky heroics Thursday was the standout play of the Flyers' rebuilt defense, one that was missing its anchor, Pronger.
Comments (18)
Good news on Giroux & Pronger. Great performance by Bob. Looks like Boosh has a one-way ticket to Glens Falls once Leighton gets back.— cpbaird- Very impressed by the Flyer's defense without Pronger last night. It appeared to be much stronger. Not sure if we have the scoring punch we will need for a great season. One game does not a season make, but a great start!— JohnFC
- The Russians are exciting--препятствует для того чтобы пойти рогульки— Romus
- What are you guys talking about, Carle and Timonen had a good games and Coburn was just ok...the rest looked shaky.— Momus
Why is it that Homer always tries to cover the Flyers injuries up like it's some sort of top secret information? Giroux was hit on the foot with a puck last night and before there were any answers, Homer said he was fine and that he'd be playing tomorrow night...so why was his foot being x-ray'd again today? Anyway, the Flyers defense will be fine. They came out flat footed in the first period but for the most part, played a decent game. The Pens put a lot of pressure on the Flyers in the third but the defense kept them to the outsides and limited the number of good shots. Bobrovsky was incredible in the first...well, he was good for the entire game but he really stood on his head in the first and kept the Flyers in the game. Looking forward to seeing what this kid can do.— eparico- Lavy will ride Bob til his pads fall off, that's the kinda faith and opportunity he presents his players. Not to harp on it again, but is Jeff Carter selfish or what? I mean all he does is shoot, never tries to create a play, he is a one trick pony!— Fabulous
- who cares about Lehighton, we got Bob!— downthemiddle
Lehighton is out 6 - 8 weeks, then he will need more time to recover his conditioning and timing. The Russian kid looked great against the Pens; maybe a little shaky on his lateral movement on Kennedy's goal, but nothing he can't improve on. He's so quick and anticipates so well...looks like we finally have a good goalie.
Let Prongs take some more time off and heal well. If we can beat the Pens without him in the lineup, there's no sense in taking any chances of a recurrence of his knee injury.- I was looking forward to the new defense...I was expecting them to be a hard hitting group, but I thought the hardest hits on defense were by Matt Carle, who is not much of a hitter...Didn't see that much from Mezarros....going by game 1, he is definately not worth the price tag..— kadhia
- In game 1 Jeff Carter was his usual self...taking wrist shots from beyond the circles...taking shots that have no chance of going in...and of course when presented with the wide open net, shooting wide...Until he gets over his fear of getting hit, he will never be a great player...
No reason to sign him to a long term deal....I would get what I can for him around mid-season..— kadhia - Boy you guys don't understand Carter at all; he is paid to shoot pucks from any angle and as fast as possible. His wrist shot is considered by many to be among the best in the game (accuracy is overrated IMHO). The last thing you want him to do is squeeze the puck and pass it instead, because of fears of innacuracy. Just shoot the puck and good things always happen in front of the net; Mark Messier made a living do exactly that. Carter is a fast skating powerful winger with a quick and hard wrist shot; accuracy is not as important as the ability to do a quick release. He is doing EXACTLY what he should be doing; Moreover, its looks like he's getting better on winning "faceoffs" He won several in that game last night that he was losing last year do to poor body postioning, so now he is using his larger frame properly in the faceoff circles. Also no wonder Ponger lobbied for his old Anaheim teammate: O'Donnell in the off season; The guy simply man handled Malkin to the boards all game long, which is another main reason the Flyers won that game yesterday.— sdeens
- hi— sdeens
Leighton has the obvious herniated disc. Still, I always thought he was a journeyman, and despite taking the flyers as far as he did, a team beset with injuries, Bob the Goalie could have stolen the series. A good goalie is like good pitching, as it can neutralize any offense ( see Bernie Parent ). Hope to see Bobrovsky, Pronger and Giroux on the ice tomorrow.- Now that it's out that Leighton failed to tell anyone he was hurt in the playoffs, send him to the AHL and keep Boucher.— JSaq
- Bobrovsky played well, equipment issue led to the first Pitt goal the second was a screened deflection... His athletic ability is amazing, i just hope he keeps rolling and gets into the swing of the NHL game quickly.. Its too early to crown him king or the next franchise goalie like some people are doing, but he has the tools right now and if he keeps the confidence he just might become a great goalie... time will tell— slap42shot
- @sdeens -- Carter is soft. The Canadian national team would have included him if it thought differently. He is great trade bait, he needs to go before he becomes an UFA. Maybe not this season, but definitely next.— Tartan69
- Flyers 2 Blues 1— ByeByeButtman
- BEST POST: SDEENS- THANKS FOR MAKING A GOOD PT. AND THEN BACKING IT UP WITH CLEAR UNDERSTANABLE REASON. GREAT PT ON CARTER AND THE FLYERS OVERALL somehting that is not BY OTHERS including yur detractors. if carter is a finesse player and is there to shoot cause rebounds win faceoffs he may easily be viewed as SOFT??? the flyers have put together a diverse team not all one in the same PLZ EDUCATE tartan69— malimal
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Broad Street Bull is the Inquirer's blog covering the Philadelphia Flyers and the National Hockey League.
Reach Sam at scarchidi@phillynews.com.
Sam Carchidi
Inquirer Staff Writer
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