VOORHEES, N.J. -- For their first practice after eliminating the
Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the
Philadelphia Flyers spent Tuesday skating.
Lots and lots of skating.
Coach
Peter Laviolette put his players through a number of drills during the 60-minute session that focused on moving up and down the ice, transition play and puck movement.
"I think it's real important to keep the guys out there and moving," Laviolette said. "It was really good. We didn't want them to think too much about systems today or what we may or may not be looking at or what we may or may not be doing. Just getting them up and down the ice. I thought it was a really good clip, 30 minutes up and down, was a great pace."
With the Flyers off for at least another few days while awaiting the start of the second round, Laviolette said he's going to use this time to let some players rest while keeping the group moving.
"I don't know the schedule, but we're looking somewhere on the weekend [to start the second round]," Laviolette said. "We still have time to prepare and go over things. I think an important thing right now is to keep moving. Keep breaking a sweat and move up and down the ice. These guys want to work, they want to run. I thought today was good."
The only healthy regulars missing from the workout were forward
Danny Briere and defenseman
Kimmo Timonen, who received treatment and worked out off the ice. Defenseman
Nicklas Grossmann, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, skated earlier in the morning with the extra players.
Of the players who did skate with the main group, one noticeable participant was defenseman
Andrej Meszaros, who is recovering from back surgery performed last month. He wore a gray, non-contact jersey, and likely is at least another two weeks away from returning. However Laviolette said it was nice to see the big blueliner back with the main group.
"Really encouraged," Laviolette said when asked what he saw from Meszaros. "He's a big part of our team. Any time you get a player back, that starts practicing, that's a positive."
Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK