Sabres defenseman Leopold returns from hand injury, but Flyers' Pronger still out

BUFFALO - It took just a little more than 3 weeks for the Buffalo Sabres to get their star defenseman with Stanley Cup finals experience back from a broken hand.

The Flyers are still waiting for theirs.

Jordan Leopold, 30, missed the Sabres' last 10 games - including the first two games of this series - after undergoing surgery on March 26 to repair a fracture in his hand. He made a surprising return to Buffalo's lineup last night, more than a week ahead of schedule.

Chris Pronger, meanwhile, took a big step in his recovery yesterday by returning to practice with his teammates in their morning skate for the first time since late March. Pronger passed the puck noticeably harder than he did last week but was still shooting gingerly.

Pronger underwent hand surgery on March 15 and was only supposed to miss 3 to 4 weeks, like Leopold. Pronger missed his 19th consecutive game last night. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren vehemently denied a report by Howard Eskin on NBC10's "Sports Final" on Sunday night that said Pronger had undergone a second surgery in late March to repair a second fracture, which was labeled by the Flyers as the initial "setback."

"They think they can throw whatever they want at the wall and see if it sticks," Holmgren said.

In response, Eskin tweeted, "I stand by my story on Pronger."

The Flyers never have officially said what caused Pronger's setback. He originally was supposed to be ready for the final week of the regular season. His status for tomorrow night's Game 4 remains uncertain.

Holmgren said on March 31 that Pronger "pushed it a little too quickly."

The Sabres took a more conservative approach with Leopold. And that's why Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was able to plug Leopold, who posted 13 goals and 22 assists this season from the point, on a pairing with Steve Montador to match up with the Flyers' top line of Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk last night.

With Andreas Nodl sitting out Game 3 because of an apparent facial injury the Flyers are classifying as an upper-body ailment, Nik Zherdev saw his first Stanley Cup playoff action since 2008.

And he took advantage, scoring a second-period goal that gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead en route to a 4-2 victory.

Zherdev, who finished the season with 16 goals, played in all five of the final regular-season games because of various injuries to others, but was scratched in the playoffs in favor of Nodl and Dan Carcillo.

He skated regularly on a line with Mike Richards and Kris Versteeg. With his deft puck-moving skills, Zherdev was a genuine force on the power play on April 5 in Ottawa, the last time the Flyers scored multiple power-play goals (2-for-6) in a game.

Nodl did not participate in the morning skate but will be re-evaluated today. Holmgren said there was no new update on Nodl and he remains "day-to-day."

Given all that went on yesterday in the Flyers' revolving goaltending circus, it would seem ironic that today is when the NHL is set to announce the finalists for the Calder Trophy, handed out to the league's rookie of the year.

The top three vote-getters will head to Las Vegas on June 22 for the NHL Awards presentation. Sergei Bobrovsky figures to gather at least a few votes for the Calder, though he probably has a better chance to finish in the top five instead of the top three with some of his votes being mutilated by a strong season from Blackhawks rookie goalie Corey Crawford.

Bobrovsky finished the regular season with a 28-13-8 record, .915 save percentage and 2.59 goals against-average. Crawford was 33-18-6 with a .917 save percentage and 2.30 GAA.

Carolina's Jeff Skinner is the favorite to win the award.

"Rumor is the Flyers are making Bobrovsky watch the game from the hotel parking lot. And eat postgame at the gift shop." - Matthew Barnaby, former Sabres villain turned television analyst for ESPN and TSN on Twitter via @MattBarnabyESPN, about Sergei Bobrovsky not having an assigned space in the Flyers' locker room at the team's morning skate yesterday.