Flyers' Coburn, MacDonald out; Lecavalier skates

Philadelphia Flyers defensemen Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald each will miss approximately four weeks because of lower-body injuries, the Flyers announced Friday.

Coburn has not played since sustaining a lower-body injury during the Flyers' opening-night loss to the Boston Bruins, but had traveled with the team during its recent three-game road trip with the hope of him returning. He had taken part in the morning skate Oct. 18 before the Flyers' 6-5 overtime win against the Dallas Stars, and again Oct. 21 at the Chicago Blackhawks.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Coburn had a setback in his recovery, according to NJ.com.

MacDonald has three points in seven games and is second in average ice time per game at 22:55.

The absences of Coburn and MacDonald, in addition to the preseason loss of Kimmo Timonen until at least January because of blood clots, leaves the Flyers without three of the top six defensemen they thought they would enter the season with.

"You take two guys out of your lineup that play over 20 minutes, obviously it's a big hole," Hextall said according to the Courier-Post. "Other guys got to step up. I think Nick Schultz really stepped up for us and logged some good minutes for us. That's something that I expected at some point but I don't think a lot of other people did."

The Flyers called up defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

The Flyers also announced forward Zac Rinaldo is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained during the Flyers' win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

There was one bit of good news Friday as Vincent Lecavalier practiced for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury during a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11. However, Hextall said Lecavalier will not play Saturday against Detroit.

"That's his first skate, so I haven't even heard yet how he did," Hextall said, according to NJ.com. "He looked OK out there. He's got to skate for a few days; that would be my guess. When a guy skates the first day, then how does he feel the next morning? It's kind of a process where you work your way through a number of steps. I guess I'm hopeful in a few days [he'll be ready to play], but I can't confirm that right now."

Lecavalier reportedly injured his left foot when he was hit by a shot by teammate Mark Streit. The initial announcement was Lecavalier would miss two weeks.

Lecavalier has one goal and two assists in three games this season, his second with the Flyers.