Oskar Lindblom received the devasting news of his Ewings Sarcoma diagnosis over fourteen months ago now. The young gun took everything in stride, kicked cancer’s ass, and returned to playoff hockey. He then entered the 2021 season with a “clean” bill of health and on the top line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny. This line was a dominant line for the Flyers prior to Lindblom’s hiatus.
After hearing the news of Lindblom’s diagnosis, I wrote a piece about the kind of man he truly is – a 24-year-old who treats everyone with dignity and respect. It’s one thing to see a positive attitude help him go from a fifth-round draft pick to a budding NHL Superstar, but after having his life turned upside down, his return to the ice and ability to pick up where he left off has been breathtaking.
Oskar Lindblom Starts the Season with Familiar Faces
As the season started, Lindblom was reunited with his old line as mentioned above. However, he didn’t look like his old self. It was great to see him score a goal in the opener, thanks to a TK shot deflecting off of his head. The physicality and effort were there, but his offense just wasn’t yet. That wouldn’t last long.
Oskar Lindblom has seven points in seventeen games. Last season he had 18 points in 30 games.
Since missing two games due to COVID-19, Lindblom has looked pretty good and appears to be getting back to his old self. He had a nice assist to set up Scott Laughton in his return from COVID protocol.
With the exception of Tuesday night’s game in Pittsburgh, Lindblom has played really well. In all fairness to Oskar, the whole team looked bad, minus the line of Sean Couturier, Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk. In fact, Lindblom was relegated to the fourth line and had a season-low for time on ice as head coach Alain Vigneault tried to generate offense by mixing up the lines.
Only as good (or bad) as your last game
The best part of this shortened season is that we don’t have to wait that long for the next game. After a tough loss like Tuesday night, the Flyers were back at it again on Thursday.
With Joel Farabee placed in COVID protocol, Lindblom was pushed on a line with Claude Giroux and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Lindblom took advantage of this by having his first multi-point game of the season. He assisted on both of Giroux’s goals finishing the game with two assists and registering two shots on net.
Lindblom will continue to work back to form as the Flyers once again take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday at 1PM.
Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre
