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With Wayne Simmonds sidelined, Oskar Lindblom given his first chance with Flyers

The veteran right winger, who has 20 goals, including a team-high 10 on the power play, will miss two to three weeks, GM Ron Hextall said on Tuesday.

With Wayne Simmonds sidelined, Flyers left winger Oskar Lindblom, shown in a preseason game, is getting his first chance to play in the NHL.
With Wayne Simmonds sidelined, Flyers left winger Oskar Lindblom, shown in a preseason game, is getting his first chance to play in the NHL.Read moreYONG KIM

The Flyers will have to survive the next few weeks without one of their most consistent scorers, right winger Wayne Simmonds.

Simmonds will be sidelined two to three weeks with an undisclosed upper-body injury, according to general manager Ron Hextall.

Simmonds, who might have gotten injured while winning a fight with the New York Rangers' Tony DeAngelo on Sunday, entered Tuesday tied for second on the Flyers with 20 goals.

"Everybody has to chip in and take a piece of it," coach Dave Hakstol said before Tuesday's game against Montreal.

Jordan Weal moved up to the Nolan Patrick-centered second line and played left wing, and Jake Voracek shifted from left wing to right wing.

Simmonds also will be missed on the power play and penalty kill. He leads the Flyers with 10 power-play goals.

"You take any player out of your lineup, it's going to hurt, but especially Simmer," Voracek said. "It's something that happens to every team around the league and we have to make sure we find a way to grind it out without him."

"It's tough losing a guy like that, especially a guy that cares that much," defenseman Radko Gudas said. "He's one of the key parts of this team. We're going to give a chance to another young guy and hopefully he can produce for us."

That young guy is Oskar Lindblom, who was promoted from the Phantoms. He made his NHL debut Tuesday and played left wing on a line that included center Scott Laughton and right winger Michael Raffl.

"He's got a great shot, a great hockey sense," said captain Claude Giroux, who observed Lindblom during training camp. "I think he's excited about it and so are the guys; he's a great guy in the locker room, too."

Lindblom, 21, who was a fifth-round draft selection in 2014, scored 16 goals with the Phantoms and was selected to the AHL all-star team.

"I grew as a player and a person down there," Lindblom said before the game, adding he planned to "have fun and play my game" in his NHL debut.

If Lindblom doesn't produce in his three games before Monday's trade deadline, it will be interesting to see if Hextall tries to make a deal for a player like Evander Kane or Rick Nash. It seems more likely, however, that Hextall would try to add a veteran defenseman.

Breakaways

Since being sent to the Phantoms, defenseman Travis Sanheim has 13 points and a plus-11 rating in 12 games. … Travis Konecny entered the night with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 24 games since being elevated to the top line. … The Flyers were 28th in the overall standings on Dec. 3 and had climbed to No. 14 entering Tuesday.