VOORHEES, N.J. - Brayden Schenn said after Saturday’s morning skate that he's feeling a bit lucky.
After being driven to the ice by Edmonton’s Adam Pardy in a third-period scrum Thursday night, Schenn took a few more shifts and then did not play the game’s final six minutes. In watching the replay, his head appeared to strike the ice pretty hard.
“I felt good that one shift, then all of a sudden I stepped on the ice for that one power play and it just hit me,” Schenn said. “That’s when I knew when to shut it down and that’s when I got tested and stuff like that. I went through the whole protocol and taking it day by day.”
Schenn said he’ll be a game-time decision Saturday night against Columbus, but coach Dave Hakstol said he thinks Schenn is “good to go.”
It’d be a surprise if Schenn - who wore a tinted visor during morning skate - wasn’t in the lineup at this point. The Flyers’ projected healthy scratches took some extra skating after practice, a sign Schenn is probably ready to play.
Schenn was not among the dozen or so Flyers at Friday’s optional practice.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Schenn said. “You don’t exactly expect to get your helmet taken off in a scrum that fast and then I didn’t know anyone was behind me and got pushed over. I definitely feel lucky to be feeling good.
“I got a little goose egg on the back of my head, but yeah, I got lucky. It’s funny, sometimes you don’t get clipped that hard and you don’t get a headache. Sometimes you get a big whack like that and you feel lucky to be feeling good. We’ll see how I feel after the skate here and go from there.”
The Flyers, who were forced to Voorhees Saturday morning because of the Villanova basketball game at Wells Fargo Center at noon, need Schenn’s services. The 24-year-old forward has been playing some of the best hockey of his career of late playing on a line with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds.
Schenn has 27 points in his last 27 games since the calendar turned, including a hat trick - the first of his career - Monday night against Calgary.
“I feel good, feel confident,” Schenn said. “I feel like I’ve got some pretty good chemistry going with G and Simmer right now. We’ve had some give-and-go plays, we’re looking for each other out there, all three of us.”
“He’s been going good for a while,” Simmonds said of Schenn. “The hat trick is just kind of … it came to the point where everything went right for him. He’s been playing really good hockey with the puck, without the puck. Hopefully he is in the lineup tonight.”
Mason returns
Steve Mason will return to the Flyers’ net tonight for the first time in two weeks. Mason last started on Feb. 20 in Toronto. He took himself out of that game in the third period after suffering from cramping.
Hakstol said Friday that the cramping wasn’t any factor in playing Michal Neuvirth, who won that game in Toronto in overtime, the last five games.
Mason has better numbers than Neuvirth in the last seven games for each goalie. The stretch of inactivity was the longest of Mason’s Philadelphia career when he’s been healthy.
Hakstol said he’s not expecting any extra motivation from Mason in Saturday night’s start.
“I expect him to go in there and play a great game,” Hakstol said. “It can be tough when you haven’t been in the net for a few days. It’s a tough challenge, but it’s one that he’s up to. He’s worked real hard and he’ll go in and do a great job for his teammates.”
Projected Flyers lineup (Assuming Schenn is good to go.)
F: Brayden Schenn - Claude Giroux - Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl - Sean Couturier - Sam Gagner
Scott Laughton - Nick Cousins - Matt Read
Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Ryan White
D: Andrew MacDonald - Shayne Gostisbehere
Nick Schultz - Mark Streit
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
G: Steve Mason
Scratches
D Evgeny Medvedev (healthy)
F R.J. Umberger (healthy)
F Jordan Weal (on IR, day-to-day, upper-body)
F Jakub Voracek (out two weeks, lower-body)
D Michael Del Zotto (on IR, out for the season, left wrist surgery)