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PITTSBURGH — One day after the Philadelphia Flyers expressed hope their top two defencemen will be back in the lineup on Sunday, the status of Braydon Coburn remained uncertain.
While Kimmo Timonen took part in his first full practice on Saturday and declared himself fit to play against the Pittsburgh Penguins in their NHL playoff series on Sunday afternoon, Coburn was less sure.
"Yeah, I think there's a good chance," was all Coburn would say after practice about the possibility of playing in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final. The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can advance to the Stanley Cup final with a win on Sunday.
Coburn was hit on the left eye by the puck in Game 2 and needed more than 50 stitches to close the cut. While the swelling has gone down enough for him to see, there are indications Coburn may be suffering concussion-like symptoms. He refused to speak to reporters on Friday and on Saturday he dodged questions concerning any dizziness and nausea he may be experiencing.
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- Philadelphia Flyers
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- Evgeni Malkin
- Jaroslav Modry
- Ryan Parent
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"Right now, I'm just kind of dealing with some things with the eye and stuff like that," Coburn said. "So every day, it's been getting better. [Sunday], we're re-evaluating it again."
Coburn did say practice on Saturday went well.
"Everything felt pretty good," he said. "It felt like I've been off the ice for a couple of days. Wearing the visor is a little bit of an adjustment as well. But it's something I'm going to have to do right now."
Timonen, who has a blood clot in his left ankle and has not played in this series, was far more optimistic.
"I think I'm ready to go," Timmonen said. "Now it's up to the coaches."
Timonen said once again he was assured by doctors he was in no danger the clot would break loose and cause serious problems. But numbness and pain in his left foot due to the clot will be an issue.
"[Between] the periods I'm going to take my skates off and try to warm my feet up somehow," he said. "I don't know which way we're going to do that, but I'm sure we're going to find a way to do that."
Flyers head coach John Stevens gave Timonen the green light on Saturday but said a decision on Coburn's status will be made on game-day.
"Kimmo looks like he's going to be ready to go," Stevens said. "[Coburn], I'm still not sure. He was still talking to [the team trainer] and the doctors."
The issue for Coburn, Stevens said, is "if he feels well enough to play."
The coach said Coburn will not play unless both he and the doctors think he will feel comfortable on the ice. This seemed to relate more to Coburn feeling comfortable enough mentally to play without being gun-shy on the ice.
If the Flyers do get their best two defencemen back on Sunday, that will give them a big leg up in their efforts to avoid the end of their hockey season. Timonen will be used against both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins, who were flying high until the last game of the series.
Stevens said he has not been told by the doctors to limit Timonen's playing time.
"First of all, I think we're going to try to keep him under 40 minutes," the coach said with a laugh. "But I think Kimmo's one of the guys like [Derian] Hatcher - the more they play, the better they play.
"He'll continue to play a lot of the situations he has. As long as he's feeling well, we'll keep an eye on him. But I would expect him to play significant minutes."
Stevens did not say who will come out of the lineup if both defencemen can play but the likely candidates are rookie Ryan Parent and veteran Jaroslav Modry.
