The Flyers can breathe a sigh of relief.
Things could have gone even further sideways very quickly for the Philadelphia Flyers with yet another injury scare, but on the surface, it appears top-pair defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen won't miss much, if any game time.
Ristolainen, 31, suffered an apparent hand injury after blocking a hard shot against the Carolina Hurricanes in Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss, and while he was able to return for the start of the third period, Ristolainen played just one shift before heading back down the tunnel and into the locker room for good.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was unable to provide a concrete update on the Finn after the game, and the team already announced prior that Ristolainen would be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Sunday afternoon's Flyers practice has come and gone, with no signs of Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim (maintenance), or Nikita Grebenkin.
In addition to Sanheim's maintenance day, Tocchet also revealed that Ristolainen was being looked at ahead of the team's road trip, but didn't offer much of an update on the rugged blue liner beyond that.
Thanks to the Flyers' social media team, however, we now know that Ristolainen is at least a possibility for the three-game road trip ahead.
In their post for the "first flight of the new season", the Flyers shared images of Ristolainen, Tyson Foerster, Alex Bump, Garrett Wilson, and Cam York all carrying their luggage to the plane while drinking some kind of smoothie.
Ristolainen being on the flight down to Tampa Bay is obviously a good sign for his health, and it's additionally notable that he wasn't seen sporting any kind of casts, slings, or splints.
It is also worth pointing out that the Flyers did not call up a defenseman ahead of their road trip, meaning that Ristolainen, Sanheim, York, Jamie Drysdale, Nick Seeler, Simon Benoit, and David Jiricek are the seven rearguards traveling with the team for the week-long road trip.
It remains to be seen if Ristolainen is indeed good to go for Monday night's game against the Lightning, but he's certainly trending in the right direction after yet another injury scare.
