Injury-ravaged Flyers call up Gostisbehere

After learning Friday that top-pair defensemen Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald will miss about four weeks because of apparent foot injuries, the Flyers saw a Ghost.

Shayne Gostisbehere, the heralded defenseman who led tiny Union College to the NCAA championship last season, was recalled from the AHL Phantoms on Friday, and he will make his NHL debut Saturday night against Detroit at the Wells Fargo Center.

The player known as "Ghost" played three games with the Phantoms this season, notching two assists and a minus-1 rating.

Gostisbehere, 21, selected in the third round of the 2012 draft (78th overall), appeared in three preseason games with the Flyers, recording two goals and an assist.

Earlier in the day, while still mulling his options, general manager Ron Hextall - who has stressed patience in developing young players - appeared to be leaning away from Gostisbehere, saying it was a "shame" and "unfortunate" he had played only a few games with the Phantoms.

The implication: He needed more seasoning.

But later in the day, perhaps after Hextall conferred with Phantoms coach Terry Murray and Flyers coach Craig Berube, Gostisbehere was on his way to Philadelphia.

Even before the news on Coburn and MacDonald, the Flyers defense had already been reeling because Kimmo Timonen, the team's best defenseman last season, has been sidelined by blood clots and will likely never play again.

"You take two guys out of your lineup that play over 20 minutes, obviously it's a big hole," Hextall said. "Other guys have got to step up. . . . Maybe this will help us put a little more focus on the team defense."

The Flyers are allowing 3.71 goals per game, which, entering Friday, placed them 28th in the 30-team NHL.

"We have a little challenge in front of us, but this team loves challenges," captain Claude Giroux said. "So let's go out there and kind of have fun with it."

The Flyers' forwards "need to come back hard," winger Wayne Simmonds said, "and take care of our own zone."

Hextall said "defensive hockey is everybody on the ice, and I think people unfairly always put the onus on the defensemen. There's three parts to it; there's the defense, there's the forwards - and trust me, they have a bigger part to do with it than people think - and then there's the goalie. Defense is threefold, and if one of your sectors is breaking down, you're not going to play good defense. So it's a team effort, and we're going to have to dig in now and really have big team efforts."

The Flyers' revamped defense against Detroit might look like this: Mark Streit and Nick Grossmann; Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto; and Nick Schultz and Gostisbehere.

Coburn has missed the last six games with an injured left foot, but he was making progress and penciled into the lineup Wednesday in Chicago before suffering a setback in warm-ups.

Hextall, who has about $2 million in cap space, said he would explore the trade and free-agent markets.

"There's not a lot out there, and the guys that are out there, you're worried if they haven't played and what kind of shape they're in," Hextall said.

Hextall said the NHL and Players Association need to make skate guards mandatory, calling it one of his "pet peeves." This season, the Flyers have had three players - Simmonds, Vinny Lecavalier, and Coburn - suffer injuries when shots hit their left foot. MacDonald also was hurt blocking a shot late in Thursday's 4-3 win in Pittsburgh, and he also appeared to injure his foot.

"To demand our players be in the shot lanes all the time and have them out there with somewhat inadequate protection is crazy," Hextall said.

Lecavalier skated Friday for the first time since suffering his injury on Oct. 11, but he won't be ready to play Saturday. Lecavalier wore a skate guard for the first time.

Breakaways. Mark Alt's nameplate was put on a locker at the team's Voorhees practice facility, but the defenseman remained with the Phantoms. . . . The Flyers will probably go with just six defensemen until they travel to Tampa Bay on Thursday. . . . Winger Zac Rinaldo also will miss Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury, and Blair Jones took his spot at practice Friday. . . . Berube said he was undecided on his goalie for Saturday.

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