Practice Report: The Captain Returns

Two weeks after he was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol following a positive test, Flyers captain Claude Giroux returned to practice at the Skate Zone. His availability for Wednesday's game against the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo will depend on how he feels during the day.

The Flyers will not have a morning skate on Wednesday, but several players including Giroux and defenseman Justin Braun (who appears likely to exit COVID protocol but who will need several days of skating and practice) are slated to appear on the ice.
"For a few days there, I had it pretty bad but, after three or four days, I felt pretty good. I feel great now," Giroux said. "Practice today was good; a good pace. It felt good to get back on the ice. It was fun. It's been awhile since I've seen my teammates. Today it felt like the first day of camp or something."
One day earlier, Giroux was able to return home to his wife, Ryanne, and son, Gavin, after finishing his quarantine. Ryanne, who recently announced that the family is expecting the birth of their second child. also a boy, posted a photo on Twitter of Claude being reunited with Gavin after his quarantine.

PATRICK ON RIGHT WING
Nolan Patrick has generally played well defensively this season but after posting a pair of goals and five points over the first five games of the regular season, has gotten mired in an offensive funk. Pointless in his last eight games, Patrick has registered just four shots on goal in that span and has only recorded a single multi-shot game (Jan. 15 vs. Pittsburgh) so far this season. He has not been getting himself frequently enough to the areas below and between the dots where most goals are scored in the NHL.
In an effort to spark Patrick and get him into more of a shooting mentality, head coach Alain Vigneault moved Patrick from center to play right wing on a line with Kevin Hayes and Giroux at Tuesday's practice.
Vigneault said that the switch is not intended as a long-term move but the hope is to spark Patrick offensively by getting him on a line with the playmaking Hayes as well as Giroux.
ELLIOTT THE LIKELY STARTER
Vigneault said that Brian Elliott would most likely get the start in goal against the Rangers on Wednesday. However, before he commits for certain to that plan, the coach wants to be sure Elliott feels ready to go. The goalie experienced a minor tweak the other day.

Elliott, who made it through practice on Tuesday seemingly OK, spoke briefly with Vigneault on the ice near the end of the session. Taxi Squad goaltender Alex Lyon, who had been off the ice for two weeks and whose Taxi Squad spot was temporarily re-assigned to Felix Sandström last week, practiced with Elliott and Carter Hart as a third goalie on the ice in Tuesday's session. Sandström was loaned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday, along with David Kase, Derrick Pouliot and Matthew Strome.
LINDBLOM DOING WELL
Once Braun, barring any setbacks, exits the COVID-19 protocol, the Flyers will have four remaining players in the protocol: Jakub Voracek (who could exit the protocol as soon as Thursday), Oskar Lindblom (potentially eligible to come off the protocol list as soon as Saturday), Scott Laughton (Saturday) and Travis Konecny (Sunday).
Vigneault reported on Tuesday that all of the Flyers players remaining on the COVID protocol list were either asymptomic all along since testing positive (as has been the case with Voracek) or experienced mild symptoms but are now feeling better. That includes Lindblom; whose case was potentially more complicated due to being less than a year removed from chemotherapy.
MOVING PARTS ON 4TH LINE
Taxi Squad forwards Maksim Sushko (who has been in the Flyers' starting lineup the last two games) and Andy Andreoff (who appeared in Sunday's NHL Outdoors game in Lake Tahoe) practiced on Tuesday on what could be the Flyers' fourth line against New York. Carsen Twarynski, who did not practice last week but returned for this season, skated on their line. Samuel Morin also took some reps with the line.
PRACTICE LINE PLAY
The Flyers used the following intermingled forward lines and defense pairs of NHL roster players and Taxi Squad members at Tuesday's practice:
van Riemsdyk - Couturier - Farabee
Giroux - Hayes - Patrick
Raffl - Bunnaman -Aube-Kubel
Twarynski/Morin - Andreoff - Sushko
Gostisbehere - Provorov
Sanheim - Myers
Hägg-Gustafsson
Friedman-Prosser
Elliott
Hart
Lyon
PP1: Hayes-Farabee-JvR-Couturier-Provorov PP2: Giroux-Patrick-NAK-Gustafsson-Gostisbehere