The injury bug strikes once again. Patrick Brown suffered a dislocated thumb in the win against Calgary and at the moment is considered week to week. For the Flyers, this shouldn’t be too big of a loss thanks to having Oskar Lindblom ready to go as he was just scratched for last night’s tilt with the Flames.
While Lindblom was said to need a reset, it could also be said that Patrick Brown was brought into last night’s game for his weight. Him and Lindblom are both 6’1″ but Brown is 210 while Lindblom is about 190. As we saw how chippy last night got, Brown was one of the guys you wanted in this game to help establish the forecheck and grind hard on both ends of the ice.
Brown has just one point in six games but that isn’t why the Flyers picked him up off the waiver wire. It was to be a guy who can play in these chippy games. He also has three blocks and two hits in those games. What stats don’t tell you is how effective he is in those tight spaces to help keep the puck and win puck battles along the boards.
Brown was kept over Aube-Kubel for not only his veteran presence but his smart play as well. He doesn’t take a ton of penalties and puts the puck into good spots or has good clears out of the zone. Brown is also a great backup forward to have on the Flyers roster while a player like Wade Allison is still out with injury.
Brown played only five shifts in last night’s game before he dislocated his thumb. In those five shifts, the fourth line, including Brown, was the best line during the first period. When your fourth line plays the way they can every night, it helps sparks your other three lines. While they will miss Brown against teams like Boston and Tampa, Lindblom will hopefully find his scoring touch and not have to come back out of the lineup.