Rookies surprisingly out of Flyers' lineup; Wayne Simmonds 'trying to bring everyone together'

In a bit of a surprise, three players fighting for roster spots — left wingers Oskar Lindblom and Taylor Leier, and defenseman Robert Hagg — were not in the Flyers' lineup for Thursday's exhibition game against visiting Boston.

Of that trio, Lindblom has the best chance to stay with the team.

"A lot of times you get down to the last couple of games, and you want to get as close to your roster as possible," coach Dave Hakstol said after Thursday's morning skate in Voorhees. "We're not quite there. Hopefully we'll get closer to what the roster will look like in our last game on Sunday. Everybody's situation that is in the lineup and out of the lineup is a little bit different … ."

Hakstol said Sunday's lineup will be "close" to the one the Flyers will use in their opener Wednesday in San Jose. "We have to see what our health is, and … we have to see what type of performances come out of [Thursday's] game."

Thursday's lineup had:

— Sean Couturier centering Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek.
— Nolan Patrick centering Jordan Weal and Wayne Simmonds.
— Val Filppula centering Travis Konecny and Dale Weise.
— Scott Laughton centering Jori Lehtera and Matt Read.

It appears the first two lines will stay intact for the regular-season opener, while the third and fourth lines are expected to change.

Read fighting for roster spot. "He's had a hard-working camp and a focused camp," Hakstol said.

Andrew MacDonald and Michael Raffl were healthy scratches.  Raffl has had a strong camp.

The Flyers have 25 players and need to make two roster cuts by 5 p.m. Tuesday. They will make the cuts before traveling to San Jose on Monday.

Elliott honored. Goalie Brian Elliott missed Thursday's game to be inducted in the University of Wisconsin's Athletic Hall of Fame. Alex Lyon was recalled from the Phantoms and started because Michal Neuvirth was sick.

Simmonds' stance. Right winger Wayne Simmonds, who said on Wednesday he wasn't sure whether he would make a statement by kneeling when the national anthem is played at Wednesday's opener, talked Thursday about "social inequalities everywhere" and said "something should be done about it."

"I'm not here to talk about the kneeling. I'm here to talk about the bigger issues. … The things that happen to the black youth. All the shootings and everything that has happened. It's gone on in this country for a numerous amount of years, and being Canadian, it's happened in Canada as well," Simmonds said. "Obviously, we're trying to get a conversation started. We're trying to bring everyone together so it's more united."

Hakstol said he had the "utmost respect for Simmer and certainly for how strong he is with his convictions. I'm going to keep having those conversations with Simmer in private."