PHILADELPHIA -- You can forgive Matt Carle for feeling a bit out of sorts Tuesday morning when he arrived at Wells Fargo Center.

It's been nearly five years since the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman had to use the visiting facilities here.

This will be Carle's first game back after signing with the Lightning as a free agent over the summer. In four seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, he had 137 points in 308 games, including a career-best 39 assists in 2010-11. He also had 26 points in 51 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and joined with Chris Pronger to form the Flyers' top defense pairing when they went to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

"It's obviously a familiar place," Carle told NHL.com. "It is weird walking by the [home] locker room. I think I've played maybe one or two games here as a visitor. I had to do a quick tour of the visiting locker room because I really didn't remember what it looked like. It'll be weird going on the ice. I played here four years, and it was a good four years. Lot of memories out there."

PHILADELPHIA -- Here is the lineup the Tampa Bay Lightning likely will use when they start their four-game road trip Tuesday here against the Philadelphia Flyers:

Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis

Cory Conacher - Vincent Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell

Nate Thompson - Adam Hall - BJ Crombeen

Benoit Pouliot - Tom Pyatt - Pierre-Cedric Labrie

Victor Hedman - Sami Salo

Matt Carle - Eric Brewer

Keith Aulie - Brian Lee

Anders Lindback

Mathieu Garon

Scratched: Dana Tyrell, Marc-Andre Bergeron

Injured: Brendan Mikkelson

VOORHEES, N.J. -- The Philadelphia Flyers had a full lineup on the ice Tuesday for their morning skate at their suburban New Jersey practice site.

Based on practice drills, here is how the lineup could look when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS):

Tye McGinn - Claude Giroux - Danny Briere

Matt Read - Sean Couturier - Mike Knuble

Jakub Voracek - Brayden Schenn - Zac Rinaldo

Tom Sestito - Maxime Talbot - Ruslan Fedotenko

Braydon Coburn - Bruno Gervais

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn

Kurtis Foster - Nicklas Grossmann

Ilya Bryzgalov

Michael Leighton

Scratched: Jody Shelley, Andreas Lilja

Injured: Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Andrej Meszaros

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

PHILADELPHIA -- Here are the projected lineups for the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers for Saturday's game at Wells Fargo Center:

HURRICANES

Jiri Tlusty - Eric Staal - Alexander Semin

Jeff Skinner - Jordan Staal - Zac Dalpe

Drayson Bowman - Jussi Jokinen - Patrick Dwyer

Andreas Nodl - Tim Brent - Chad LaRose

Justin Faulk - Tim Gleason

Joni Pitkanen - Jamie McBain

Bobby Sanguinetti - Jay Harrison

Dan Ellis

Cam Ward

Scratched: Kevin Westgarth, Joe Corvo

FLYERS

Danny Briere - Claude Giroux - Tye McGinn

Mike Knuble - Sean Couturier - Matt Read

Brayden Schenn - Maxime Talbot - Jakub Voracek

Zac Rinaldo - Ruslan Fedotenko - Tom Sestito

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn

Braydon Coburn - Bruno Gervais

Nicklas Grossmann - Kurtis Foster

Ilya Bryzgalov

Michael Leighton

Scratched: Jody Shelley, Andreas Nodl

Injured: Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, Andrej Meszaros

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PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers will have to try to snap their three-game losing without one of their leading scorers, Wayne Simmonds, who will sit out Saturday's game against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes due to head and neck injuries.

Simmonds, who is tied with Matt Read for the team lead with five points in seven games, was elbowed in the face by Washington Capitals defenseman John Erskine late in the first period of Friday's game and did not return.

The Flyers gave no timetable for how long Simmonds would be out, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Simmonds would be re-evaluated Sunday.

"It's disappointing," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said of Simmonds' absence. "We certainly could use him in the lineup right now. His ability to score, his physical presence, the roles and situations and the minutes that he plays on our team, we'll miss him."

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren announced Thursday that forward Mike Knuble will arrive in town Friday with the intention of signing a contract.

"Mike's coming in [Friday] morning and we'll get him checked out by the doctors," Holmgren said between periods of Thursday's 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. "I assume he's ready to go."

Holmgren said if there are no medical issues, Knuble will sign and be available for the team during its weekend games at the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Hartnell sustained the injury during the third period of Tuesday's game against the New Jersey Devils when he was hit in the foot by a shot by teammate Kimmo Timonen.

"Right now we're trying to decide, talking to the doctor, what the best way to proceed is as far as how to approach this," Holmgren said before the Flyers' game against the New York Rangers. "I can't give you a time frame. It's probably going to be between four to eight weeks. … Obviously it's a significant injury."

PHILADELPHIA -- New York Rangers rookie forward Chris Kreider, who played just 7:21 in Wednesday's 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins, will sit out Thursday's game here against the Flyers.

The 21-year-old, who stepped into the lineup and excelled in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, has just one shot and a minus-2 rating in three games this season.

"He's just a kid," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "He's not even gone through an NHL training camp. He has not played a lot, and the regular season is a whole different ballgame as far as the grind of it and what you have to do. … This is a different situation. He understands."

Kreider, one of the few players at the rink for Thursday's optional morning practice, said he's going along with the plan.

"I trust the organization and I trust all the decisions they make and ultimately they'll make the right decision and have my best interests in mind," he told The (Bergen) Record.

Tortorella said Kreider has been spending extra time watching video with him and assistant coach Mike Sullivan, and that process will continue. However, he also believes watching the game from the press box can be a good thing for Kreider.

"We have him focus on people," Tortorella said. "I know last year when he was out we had him look at [Carl] Hagelin because they're similar with their speed. I think it'll help him. He's a good kid. But it's a situation where I have to make a decision on what gives us the best chance each and every night. There's been some struggles there, especially away from the puck. That's how young players, especially with this coach, are able to get on the ice, to understand that part of the game. We'll work with him and see where he goes with it."

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Tri-City Americans goaltender Eric Comrie, a top prospect for the 2013 NHL Draft, will miss the remainder of the season due to a hip injury.

Comrie told the Tri-City Herald that he will have surgery Feb. 5 in Colorado and will be out for 3-4 months.

"It [stinks] right now," Comrie told the newspaper. "It is better to do it [surgery] while it is minor. The doctors say I will be more flexible, have better range of motion and be pain-free.

"We [Comrie and his parents] sat down and talked about it and decided this would the best course of action. I have to move forward and next year I will be 100 percent. It's really hard to leave. We've really become a family. This is the closest team I have ever been on."

Comrie is No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American goalies for this year's draft. In 37 games this season, he is 20-14-3 with a 2.62 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and two shutouts.