James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports activities
Welcome again to Display Photographs, a daily THN.com characteristic during which we current a couple of totally different hockey matters, and break them down in smaller studying parts. Let’s get began immediately:
– The Philadelphia Flyers stunned many individuals with their sturdy begin to the common season, however like most groups, they’ve been bitten by the harm bug, and this chew is prone to expose their lack of depth. Star middle Sean Couturier, who hasn’t performed in any respect this season, suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a season-ending again harm this previous February, and now could be anticipated to miss the following three to 4 months with one other again harm and surgical procedure.
The 29-year-old Couturier had been green-lit for full participation at Philadelphia’s coaching camp, however he hadn’t participated in any practices and harm his again once more. He hasn’t performed a single recreation since Dec. 18, 2021, and he’s within the first 12 months of an eight-year, $62-million contract extension he signed in the summertime of 2021.
Clearly, it is a devastating scenario for him, and you need to marvel if his profession is in jeopardy. Again accidents aren’t any joke – ask Henrik Zetterberg or Alex Steen, each of who needed to retire because of again accidents – and on high of Couturier’s newest harm, the Flyers are going to be with out veteran winger James Van Riemsdyk, who will miss the following six weeks after breaking his index finger Sunday in opposition to San Jose.
With veteran winger Cam Atkinson nonetheless on the sidelines with an upper-body harm, and veteran defenseman Ryan Ellis anticipated to overlook your complete season, the drop-off in NHL-quality gamers for Philly is excessive. Even when the Flyers have been totally wholesome this 12 months, they weren’t going to be projected to be a playoff crew; with out all these veterans, it needs to be next-to-impossible for them to win sufficient video games to make the post-season.
– Congratulations to New York Islanders winger Josh Bailey, who performed in his 1,000th-career regular-season recreation Friday and scored the game-winner that night time within the Isles’ 6-2 win over Carolina. The 33-year-old has by no means been a famous person, however he has been a strong competitor who contributed each within the common season and within the playoffs, the place he’s posted 34 assists and 50 factors in 70 profession post-season video games.
Like Minnesota Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski, Bailey’s 1,000-game achievement this 12 months is nothing to sneer at. You need to be reliable, sturdy and pushed to final in hockey’s greatest league, and in 15 NHL seasons, Bailey has been all these issues. You need to tip your hat to him.
– Lastly, let’s flip our consideration to the Dallas Stars and star goalie Jake Oettinger, who was injured Saturday in opposition to the New York Rangers. The 23-year-old bought off to an outstanding begin this season, posting a 1.40 goals-against common and a .952 save share in seven video games, and making a case that he’s the league’s most dear participant in some ways. Certainly, after Oettinger left the sport within the second interval Saturday, his understudy, Scott Wedgewood, surrendered 4 objectives on solely 16 photographs and Dallas misplaced 6-3 to the Blueshirts.
The Stars had no specifics on Oettinger’s harm, however the concept he could miss vital time ought to scare the heck out of Dallas followers. Wedgewood has been sub-par, to say the least, this 12 months, placing up an .880 SP and 4.29 G.A.A. in three appearances. If the Stars need to lean on him for a protracted stretch of time, they may slide down the Central Division standings and have a tough time incomes a playoff berth. Oettinger is a big element of Dallas’ blueprint for fulfillment, and so long as he’s out of the lineup, the Stars are prone to battle.