Injured Flyers Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale will sit out game vs. Lightning

After a mostly healthy season, the injury bug has officially hit the Flyers.

Top scorer Travis Konecny will remain out of the lineup Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He missed the last two games after leaving practice early in discomfort on Friday.

Jamie Drysdale will not play after he was injured against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, getting crunched by Jansen Harkins in the neutral zone. Drysdale grabbed his left shoulder immediately as he lay on the ice before skating directly to the locker room. He is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury and will be reevaluated in two weeks. Drysdale’s left shoulder required surgery in 2022 after he suffered a torn labrum that October, ending his season eight games into the 2022-23 campaign.

“I’m not really sure yet what’s going on, but I think he avoided the worst case, so that’s good news,” his buddy Cam York said. “Just got to stay positive. He’s so young and has a long ways to go, so it’s definitely not the end of the world.”

The Flyers also announced Tuesday that Rasmus Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve. The defenseman has been out since Feb. 10 and is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

“Next man up,” Scott Laughton said. “I think we’ve been through it last year and years in the past. It gives guys the opportunity to do what they do and do it confidently. So, yeah, we’re going to need everyone here. We knew that from the start of the year and teams go through it; we’re just going through it a little bit right now with different guys and the same mentality we’ve had all year is that belief in our room.”

The next man up right now is Bobby Brink. Recalled from Lehigh Valley in a corresponding move to Ristolainen, the forward notched 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 11 games in the minors.

“I’m just going to go out there and do my best and play my game and what comes from it comes from it,” Brink said. “But all you can control is your effort and that’s all I’m going to do.”

Brink, who has 18 points in 38 games with the Flyers, said he took the demotion in stride and didn’t “whine about it.” He also noted that “every day you’re in the NHL, you’ve got to earn your spot.” Coach John Tortorella would not confirm if Brink was in the lineup Tuesday, but the forward did skate on a line with Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost during the team’s morning skate.

“Bobby brought some offense to us when he was here. It leveled out a little bit,” Tortorella said. “I think he needed a mindset change a little bit as young players do sometimes. I think it is good [for them]. I’m hoping he can bring us some offense if he plays. Still not sure, but if he does play we’re going to try to put him in some offensive roles. Didn’t bring him to check. Hopefully, it will bring some offense to us.”

» READ MORE: John Tortorella has a young Flyers team rolling. How? By changing his ways.

One of the spots he can help on is the power play. Brink notched two goals with the man advantage during his AHL stint. He had two goals and two assists on power plays with the big club.

The Flyers power play is back to dead last in the NHL (13.2%) and will not have Drysdale to man at least one of the units. Egor Zamula will slot back in — although the Flyers have only six defensemen on the active roster — after being a healthy scratch on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

“I wanted to play [Marc] Staal, I wanted to go with six [defensemen] and 12 forwards,” Tortorella said about why Zamula sat. “Same thing all year long, it doesn’t hurt for him to watch a game. It certainly wasn’t him not playing because we’re upset with his play. We just want him to keep on playing, bring some offense, he’ll run a power play tonight. Just keep on trying to improve.”

Sam Ersson will start against the Lightning (7 p.m. on NBCSP). … Tortorella is also injured. The coach walked into his news conference in a sling after undergoing hand surgery Monday morning. … Tyson Foerster did not participate in morning skate after taking a puck off his knee in Pittsburgh. … Cam Atkinson stayed out late, hinting he could be a healthy scratch for the second time this season. He was scratched against the Columbus Blue Jackets in early January. … During line rushes, Sean Couturier was centering Nic Deslauriers and Olle Lycksell.