VOORHEES, N.J . -- Following a few line changes in Game 3 of their conference semifinal series with the New Jersey Devils, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette unveiled four new lines at practice Saturday, a day before Game 4 on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC).
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Whether those lines stick, however, is a question that no one with the Flyers is prepared to answer.
"I haven't announced any lineups and we don't talk about lineups," coach Peter Laviolette said. "I wouldn't hang your hat on it. You can, but I'm not going to talk about it."
"We're not too sure what's going to be the lines for the game," Claude Giroux added. "We're just trying new stuff and seeing how it works."
Danny Briere was centering Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek, while Giroux was with James van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds. Brayden Schenn centered Matt Read and Jaromir Jagr, while Maxime Talbot was between Zac Rinaldo and Eric Wellwood.
Putting Hartnell back with Briere could be what Hartnell needs to get on track -- he has just one even-strength point in nine playoff games. When Hartnell and Briere were together in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hartnell had 17 points in 23 games and the Flyers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
"It's not like we don't know each other," Briere said of Hartnell. "Peter likes to change his lines, so almost everybody has played with everybody this year. It's not a big deal to us. Who knows what's going to happen. We don't know if those are going to be the lines [Sunday] for the game yet. We'll see what happens."
Rinaldo could make his series debut in Game 4 in place of rookie Sean Couturier, who suffered a lower-body injury in the first period of Game 3 when he got tangled along the boards with the Devils' David Clarkson. According to RDS, Couturier skated on his own in a track suit for less than five minutes about an hour before the full team hit the ice.
Another change could come on defense, with Andrej Meszaros possibly returning to the lineup for the first time since March 1. Meszaros had back surgery on March 21, and for the first time was paired with one of the team's regular defenders, Andreas Lilja. The initial prognosis after surgery for Meszaros was 6-8 weeks, and May 2 was six weeks.
If Meszaros comes in, it's likely rookie Erik Gustafsson could sit. Gustafsson on Saturday skated with Pavel Kubina, who has been a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs.
Here is how the Flyers' lineup could look for Game 4:
Scott Hartnell - Danny Briere - Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk - Claude Giroux - Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read - Brayden Schenn - Jaromir Jagr
Zac Rinaldo - Maxime Talbot - Eric Wellwood
Braydon Coburn - Nicklas Grossmann
Kimmo Timonen - Matt Carle
Andrej Meszaros - Andreas Lilja
Ilya Bryzgalov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK