Leighton recalled by Flyers, could start Sunday

The Philadelphia Flyers opted to stay off the ice Sunday morning, ahead of their game Sunday night against the visiting Buffalo Sabres (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2), one day after their 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins, their third straight defeat.

After the game Saturday, coach Peter Laviolette convened a team meeting, followed by the players having a private meeting.

The defeat dropped the Flyers to 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, and after entering the week with two straight wins, they were swept in games against the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Bruins, two of which they held leads in only to see them given away.

"It seemed like we packed it in," Scott Hartnell told reporters Saturday. "If one thing goes wrong, whether it be a bad call or the first goal … you look down the bench and everyone's heads are down. We were deflated right from that … that's not what good teams, do. It's on us to pick each other up and support each other and be positive. It just seemed like we were down 1-0 and it seemed like we packed it in."

It's unclear if Laviolette will opt to change his lineup or keep things the same against a Sabres team stuck in 14th in the standings. The only roster change came at the backup goaltender spot, where Michael Leighton was recalled from Adirondack of the American Hockey League, with Brian Boucher sent down to the AHL. The recall could mean Leighton could make just his second start of the season, and mark just the third time all season Bryzgalov hasn't played.

Bryzgalov likely could use the rest. He leads the League with 24 starts, and his 1,349:58 of ice time is just three seconds less than League-leader Pekka Rinne. He's also faced the third-most shots (621) and made the fourth-most saves (558). In his previous three games, he's allowed 11 goals on 64 shots (.828 save percentage); in the five games before that, he allowed 12 goals on 131 shots (.908).

Here is what the Flyers' lineup could like Sunday:

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek

Brayden Schenn - Danny Briere - Wayne Simmonds

Simon Gagne - Ruslan Fedotenko - Simon Gagne

Zac Rinaldo - Sean Couturier - Maxime Talbot

Braydon Coburn - Nicklas Grossmann

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn

Erik Gustafsson - Andrej Meszaros

Michael Leighton

Ilya Bryzgalov

Scratched: Mike Knuble, Kurtis Foster, Bruno Gervais

Injured: Tye McGinn (orbital), Jody Shelley (hip)

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK