Ghost skates, could play tonight

Looks like Shayne Gostisbehere will be back in the lineup tonight when the Flyers host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.

"I feel like I'm ready,'" he said after being paired with Brandon Manning during the morning skate in Voorhees. "We'll see where it's at,"

Gostisbehere was injured three games ago with what was then described as "an upper body injury" when Leo Komarov drove him head first into the glass along the sideboards. The Flyers have reported that he spent much of this week skating with several other injured players, including Nolan Patrick, who spent a short amount of time on the ice this morning during the non-contact portion.

Patrick, the second pick overall in last June's draft, has been sidelined since banging his head against the glass in a game against Edmonton two weeks ago. He was on the Flyers road trip to Ottawa and Toronto last week and seemed poised to play in Toronto, but was held out.

Asked if he had cleared all the protocols, Gostisbehere said, "Yeah. Like you said. I feel good. I feel like I'm ready to go."

The return of Ghost would be a boost to a defense corps that has been decimated by injury of late. Andrew MacDonald, seen on crutches after the skate, is at least two weeks from playing. And Radko Gudas, who suffered an apparent concussion against Chicago Wednesday, did not participate in the morning skate.

Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said he would dress seven defensemen during warmups but play only six.

"Morning skates are a small part of the evaluation process," said the coach when asked if he thought Ghost was ready to go.

Said Gostisbehere, "You've just got to be smart about it. You've got to listen to your body. I think that's the biggest thing for me. I think that's what I did over the last week."