A rough opening stretch for the Philadelphia Flyers took another hit Saturday night, and this one came on the blue line.
During a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen exited with an undisclosed injury. The Flyers said he’ll be re-evaluated on Sunday, which should help determine both his status for the team’s upcoming three-game road trip and what exactly he’s dealing with.
The injury appears to have come on a blocked shot in the second period, when Ristolainen took a puck off his left hand. He headed down the tunnel shortly after, then briefly returned for the third period.
That comeback didn’t last long. He logged a 37-second shift to open the frame before leaving for good.
Before exiting, Ristolainen finished with two blocked shots and a hit in 14:26 of ice time.
It’s another setback for a Flyers team that has managed just four goals through its first three games and is sitting at 0-1-2. Ristolainen had been one of the few bright spots offensively, scoring in the team’s second game for his only goal and point so far this season.
With him out, Philadelphia leaned mostly on Nick Seeler alongside Travis Sanheim on the top pair. That duo was on the ice for no goals either way, and in 4:31 together they posted a 19.47% 5v5 score-adjusted expected goal share in the loss.
If Ristolainen can’t go, the Flyers would likely turn to Simon Benoit, their lone healthy scratch on the blue line, to step back into the lineup. Benoit has gone pointless through two games this season.
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