To kick off December after a roasting November, the Philadelphia Flyers picked up another home win in regulation against the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning 6-1. James van Riemsdyk, Scott Laughton, Claude Giroux, Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny, and Shayne Gostisbehere all posted goals tonight in a game that was described as “the closest 6-1 game” by Kevin Hayes. In the second period, Michael Raffl exited the game. The Flyers would be up a goal by the end of the period but down a player. This is the same injury that Laughton returned from recently.
After leaving the game in the second period, Michael Raffl did not return on the ice to play. The cause of Raffl leaving the game was due to a broken finger to his right hand. Alain Vigneault specified the injury to the right pinky finger and that Raffl will be out for four weeks. Vigneault has been great at shuffling lines and getting the most of the talent out of his rotations. While Raffl is sidelined, Chris Stewart will fill in.
The general knowledge of a broken pinky finger is that the overall grip strength of that hand drops about 33%. Some therapists say you can lose to 50% of your hand strength. Michael Raffl having this finger broken doesn’t allow him to control his stick effectively on ice, so it’s not worth playing through or bandaging up with the ring finger. Scott Laughton was out for just about the full four weeks when he broke a finger this season. When Raffl returns, expect him to play as exceptional on the fourth line this season.
This season, Michael Raffl has nine points tallied, three goals and six assists. All of his goals and assists were during even-strength hockey. Raffl is scoring 10.7% of the shots he takes this season. Chris Stewart, Raffl’s replacement, has contributed one point this season, which was an even-strength assist. We at Philly Sports Network wish Raffl a speedy recovery as the Philadelphia Flyers push forward the next four weeks without him.
Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
