The general consensus thus far seems to suggest that Michael Leighton‘s back injury isn’t all that bad. The Flyers say they’re “cautiously optimistic” and that taking him out just prior to Friday night’s shootout was just a precaution.
And since Leighton didn’t head back to the locker room during that shootout, instead sticking around on the bench and even hitting the ice with his teammates to congratulate Brian Boucher following the victory, all signs point to Leighton being fine.
But Frank Seravallli of the Daily News has pointed a few things out this morning, reading between the lines of Paul Holmgren’s words last night. You can read what Holmgren had to say in the Daily News today, but in a nutshell, Leighton has had this little issue with his back all summer long. It hasn’t bothered him much in camp thus far until last night, when he tweaked it in the third period.
Seravalli notes that if it’s causing Leighton problems after just three periods of game action, are we in for something long-term here? I tend to agree with his skepticism, if nothing else. After all, how many times has an injury been downplayed off the bat by the Flyers, only to find out later that yeah, it was indeed something serious.
I don’t trust what the Flyers have to say when it comes to injuries anymore, and this is no exception.
Leighton won’t be examined until the team gets back to Philadelphia, and considering they’re in Minnesota tonight and tomorrow is Sunday, we likely won’t know much more until Monday at the earliest.
In the meantime, expect to see Brian Boucher and Nic Riopel as the two Flyers goaltenders tonight. I don’t believe Sergei Bobrovsky made the trip, and Johan Backlund is still down with a hip issue.
