Flyers forward Rinaldo returning to lineup

Philadelphia Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo has one goal and one assist in 44 games, but could his return to the lineup be the spark the team has been missing?

Rinaldo last played Jan. 8, when he sustained a sprained ankle. In the three weeks he's missed, the Flyers went 3-5-2. He'll be back in the lineup Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks, likely playing on the fourth line.

The Flyers originally thought Rinaldo would be out more than a month.

"Six weeks definitely wasn't for me, so I cut it in half," he said.

With four games in the next seven days, the Ducks will turn to Frederik Andersen in goal Thursday. It will be the rookie's first start since Jan. 18.

Here are the projected lineups:

FLYERS

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek

Vincent Lecavalier - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds

Matt Read - Sean Couturier - Steve Downie

Adam Hall - Michael Raffl - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn

Mark Streit - Nicklas Grossmann

Erik Gustafsson - Luke Schenn

Steve Mason

Ray Emery

Scratched: Andrej Meszaros, Hal Gill, Jay Rosehill

DUCKS

Dustin Penner - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Patrick Maroon - Mathieu Perreault - Teemu Selanne

Daniel Winnik - Saku Koivu - Andrew Cogliano

Matt Beleskey - Nick Bonino - Kyle Palmieri

Cam Fowler - Ben Lovejoy

Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin

Luca Sbisa - Mark Fistric

Frederik Andersen

Jonas Hiller

Scratched: Jakob Silfverberg, Bryan Allen, Tim Jackman

Injured: Sheldon Souray (wrist), Viktor Fasth (lower body)