L. Schenn in, Gudas out for Flyers

Much-maligned defenseman Luke Schenn will be in the Flyers' starting lineup Thursday for their opener in Tampa.

Schenn was with the since-demoted Andrew MacDonald on the fourth pairing for most of training camp, but he beat out Radko Gudas for the last defensive spot. A stay-at-home defender, Schenn, 25, will be paired with the puck-moving Evgeny Medvedev, the Flyers' best defenseman in training camp.

"Pretty much all week long, Luke's been in that position - he's been rock-solid from the start of camp," rookie coach Dave Hakstol said after practice Wednesday in Voorhees. "He's competed hard. I think it's a good pair when you look at what the two guys bring."

Thursday's other pairings: Nick Schultz with Mark Streit and Michael Del Zotto with Brandon Manning.

The Flyers' projected lines: Claude Giroux centering Michael Raffl and Jake Voracek; Sean Couturier centering Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds; Scott Laughton centering Matt Read and R.J. Umberger; and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare centering Chris VandeVelde and Ryan White.

Coaches' challenges

For the first time, the NHL will allow coaches to challenge goals scored on potential offside or goalie-interference plays.

"It'll be a simple timeout call and you talk to the officials to let them know what you want to challenge," Hakstol said.

To use a coach's challenge, a team still must have its timeout. It keeps the timeout if it wins the challenge. A coach can have an unlimited number of challenges, provided the timeout is remaining.

Breakaways

Former Flyers Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle are in Tampa Bay's lineup. . . . Hakstol praised his veteran assistants for helping him get acclimated to the NHL and "all the little details."