Flyers Notes: Read back in lineup after 6-game absence

BUFFALO - After missing six games because of a concussion, winger Matt Read returned to the Flyers' lineup Tuesday night in Buffalo.

"He's an every-situation player for us - penalty kill, power play, five-on-five," coach Craig Berube said after the morning skate. "He's fast, has the ability to put the puck in the net."

Read, who has 10 goals in 40 games, set up the game-winner in a 4-3 victory over the Sabres. The Flyers had gone 3-3 in the six games he missed.

"It's tough every day seeing your teammates go to work and you can't do much," Read said before the game. "You just have to rest and do everything you can to not use your brain as much as you can and recover. It's been a long two weeks, and now that I'm finally back on the ice, it feels good."

Early in his recovery, Read said, he was having vision problems while exercising or skating.

"I would get foggy, and my head was just [filled with] pressure and I couldn't do much," he said. "But it's getting better every day and I'm feeling good. The vision problems are gone. I just have to get back in shape [because] I didn't do anything for two weeks."

Read was on a line with Vinny Lecavalier and Sean Couturier.

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup, the 1974 Flyers will be honored by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association at its 110th annual banquet Jan. 27 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill.

Among the Broad Street Bullies in attendance will be Bernie Parent, Bob Clarke, Bill Barber, Don Saleski, Bill Clement, Dave Schultz, Orest Kindrachuk, Joe Watson, Jimmy Watson, and Terry Crisp.

Ticket information is available online at PSWAdinner.com.

Winger Steve Downie was scratched for the second consecutive game; he has one point in his last eight games since returning from an upper-body injury. . . . Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller did not start because he will face Toronto on Wednesday. Miller is on the best 10-game stretch of his career with a .950 save percentage in that span. . . . Wayne Simmonds entered the game three goals shy of 100 in his career. He had 10 goals in his last 13 games. . . . Nick Grossmann began the night ranked fourth in the NHL with 113 blocked shots.