Voracek will sit out Saturday; Giroux back at practice

The Flyers might get leading scorer Claude Giroux back for Saturday's matinee against visiting Arizona, but they will be without their No. 2 scorer, Jake Voracek.

Giroux said he felt "pretty good" Friday after participating in his first practice in Voorhees since he was injured eight nights earlier in Montreal.

"He had a good day, so we'll see where it goes," general manager Ron Hextall said. "There's a chance he'll play [Saturday]."

A few hours later, Hextall announced that Voracek (48 points) would miss Saturday's game with a lower-body injury. He collided with Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk during the Flyers' 3-2 win Thursday and was limping after the game.

Voracek's streak of 286 consecutive games - tied with Jeff Carter for third-longest in franchise history - will come to an end. He did not practice Friday.

As for Giroux, he smiled when asked if there was anything he couldn't do on the ice.

"I can't score on my goalies," he cracked.

Giroux, who had a suspected concussion, skated for the first time since Sunday. "He had good energy and good jump," coach Dave Hakstol said.

Brayden Schenn has been effectively centering the top line in place of Giroux, who has a team-high 49 points.

"Obviously, we want him back," said Schenn, whose team entered Friday three points out of a wild-card spot with 22 games left, "but it's been a good response by everyone. With him out of the lineup, our power play maybe struggled a little bit, but as a whole, I thought we filled a big void."

Schenn said Giroux "brings everything" to the lineup. "Obviously he's good on the power play, huge on faceoffs, and he plays a solid two-way game. If we do get him back [Saturday], it would be a big boost moving forward. We're getting closer to the playoffs, and we want to keep that push going."

The Flyers have played admirably without Giroux, winning two of three games. Their only loss was a 3-1 setback in Carolina, a game in which the Flyers outshot the Hurricanes, 37-18.

The Flyers, trying to win just their second game against a Pacific Division opponent this season, will face an Arizona team that has lost four straight. The Flyers are 1-6-3 against Pacific teams.

Hextall said calls about potential trades were "flooding in" a few days ago, but then it quieted down. "Prices are high right now. . . . I know something will come at us that we don't expect."

The trade deadline is Monday at 3 p.m., and defensemen Mark Streit and Nick Schultz are the mostly likely Flyers to be moved in deals.

Fourteen men and women from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst visited the Flyers' locker room after practice and mingled with the players. Some took photos with them. One soldier asked Shayne Gostisbehere to sign his autograph and draw a ghost and a bear.

Gostisbehere complied. "That's a sad-looking bear," he said.

Russ Regn, special events coordinator with the Burlington County military affairs committee, said he takes the group to several historical sites and sporting events each year, "but this is the best. The feedback I get afterward from everybody is great. The only other athletes I've ever seen that are so agreeable are NASCAR drivers."

Michal Neuvirth, who made a had-to-see-it-to-believe-it save with 2.6 seconds left to preserve the win over Minnesota, is expected to start for the fifth time in six games Saturday. . . . Former Flyer Nick Grossmann, sent to Arizona last year in the Sam Gagner trade, has seven points and a minus-2 rating. . . . In a Zamboni race after practice, broadcaster Steve Coates defeated Nick Cousins and pumped his arms triumphantly as he did a victory lap around the rink.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull