Bruised hand sidelines Briere vs. Rangers

NEW YORK -- Just when you think the Philadelphia Flyers can't suffer another injury to one of their key players, Danny Briere joins the list of the walking wounded.

Briere, who has 10 goals and 25 points this season, will not be in the lineup tonight against the New York Rangers due to a bruised hand he suffered during Wednesday's game against the Dallas Stars. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren announced Friday that the speedy forward is day-to-day.

Besides Briere, the Flyers are without captain Chris Pronger for the rest of the season due to a concussion. Forwards Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn are out with concussions. Defenseman Andreas Lilja just returned from an ankle injury in the Flyers' previous game against the Stars, as did center Claude Giroux, who had missed four games with a concussion before returning with a four-point night.

For Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, it's just business as usual.

"The injuries, they're not something that we can control. They happen," Laviolette said. "We've said this before. They continue to happen. But I really like the team we're putting on the ice tonight. I think we go out there and express ourselves and the way we play the game and make up for the people that aren't there by getting strong performances out of others. While we wish we had a full lineup, everybody wishes that."

Briere has been centering the Flyers' second line with James van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers didn't do line rushes during their morning skate at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, but it's likely that rookie Matt Read will move up from the third line to take Briere's place.

The 25-year-old Read has played well enough to be in the Calder Trophy discussion. He has 11 goals and 9 assists in 30 games with 17:23 of ice time per game. That last number will likely be on the rise tonight, which is something his teammates don't mind at all.

"He's played center before," Scott Hartnell said of Read. "He's good defensively, good down low, battles hard. I think he'll jump in there and do well."

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