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Flyers shake up defensive pairings as Manning sits out

Brandon Manning was held out of the Flyers' lineup for precautionary reasons Sunday night against Calgary, causing coach Dave Hakstol to juggle two of his defensive pairings.

Brandon Manning was held out of the Flyers' lineup for precautionary reasons Sunday night against Calgary, causing coach Dave Hakstol to juggle two of his defensive pairings.

Hakstol moved rookie Ivan Provorov into Manning's spot, alongside Radko Gudas. Provorov had been paired with Mark Streit.

Streit was paired with Michael Del Zotto, who returned to the lineup after a three-game benching.

Andrew MacDonald, who probably would have been benched if Manning wasn't injured, remained paired with Shayne Gostisbehere.

Manning suffered an unspecified injury and did not play much in the third period Friday against the Rangers.

As for Del Zotto, it has been a difficult nine months for the 26-year-old defenseman, who was limited to 52 games because of season-ending wrist surgery last February. After a grueling rehab, he suffered a knee injury last month and struggled to find his rhythm when he returned to the lineup Nov. 5.

Then came the three-game benching, which followed some poor "reads" that led to goals.

"Any time you're not playing, you're not feeling the best about yourself," Del Zotto said the other day. "But I've been in this situation numerous times. To me, I just look at it as another obstacle, another piece of adversity to overcome. Deal with it head-on and I'll be better from it."

Added Del Zotto: "I know I can be better and I know I will be better. It's just a matter of getting back in and proving to the coaching staff I can get back to where I was before my injury, being the No. 1 guy."

Slumping forwards

Several Flyers entered Sunday in major slumps, including Claude Giroux, who had no goals in his last eight games. Brayden Schenn, who had one goal in his last 14 games, Jake Voracek (one goal in 11 games) and Travis Konecny (no goals in seven games) were also in scoring funks,

Schenn was replaced on the top line Sunday by left winger Michael Raffl. Schenn dropped down to the fourth unit, where he centered Chris VandeVelde and Roman Lyubimov.

Breakaways

At a corresponding point last season, the Flyers were 8-10-5. . . . Lyubimov returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for seven straight games. . . . The Flyers entered Sunday second in the NHL in power-play success (25.7 percent) and 20th on the penalty kill (80.9 percent ). . . . Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau, the pride of Gloucester Catholic, is sidelined with a fractured finger and did not make the road trip.