Flyers' Timonen won't play Thursday vs. Sharks
Veteran Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, exhausted from the Olympics and the travel, will sit out Thursday's game against visiting San Jose to give him an extra day of rest after his return from Sochi, Russia.
Coach Craig Berube said Timonen will return to the lineup Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers.
Timonen, who practiced with the Flyers Wednesday for the first time since returning from the Olympics, helped Finland win the bronze medal, which he displayed in the locker room.
"Showoff!" cracked defenseman Hal Gill as Timonen proudly lifted the bronze medal for photographers.
Because of the time change, Timonen said he has had a difficult time sleeping since he returned Monday after a 14-hour plane trip.
"I'm not a young boy anymore, so it takes a little time to recover," he said, adding that when he practiced Wednesday it felt "almost like skating in the mud. I haven't skated since the game ended [Saturday]. We celebrated for a couple days, let's put it that way."
At Wednesday's practice, Nick Grossmann replaced Timonen on a pairing with Braydon Coburn. The other pairs had Andrej Meszaros with Mark Streit, and Erik Gustafsson with Luke Schenn.
Timonen, who turns 39 next month, reiterated that this was his last Olympics. He helped Finland win four medals in his five Olympics.
The Flyers will bring a four-game winning streak into Thursday, when they end their 19-day layoff.
"I think Thursday will be kind of a feeling-out game just for everyone to get back," winger Scott Hartnell said. "It's kind of like a Game 1 or Game 2. The team that is simple and works hard and competes is the team that has the best chance of winning. . . . But I think we believe in here; we've had some great practices and we're really focused."
Breakaways. The Flyers will play their final 23 games over 46 days. . . . Meszaros shrugged off a report that the Bruins are showing interest in acquiring him. . . . The Flyers used a 4-0 third period to rally past the Sharks, 5-2, on Feb. 3