Flyers center Nolan Patrick overcomes scary moment in scrimmage

Patrick, who missed last season with a migraine disorder, was in a collision with big Samuel Morin on Wednesday, but the center was able to return to the ice.

Nolan Patrick, shown warming up at camp Monday, was in a collision Wednesday with 6-foot-7, 230-pound Samuel Morin but was able to return for his next shift. He missed all of last season with a migraine disorder.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

by Sam Carchidi

Published Jan. 6, 2021, 5:51 p.m. ET

There was a hold-your-breath moment during Day 3 of the Flyers’ training camp Wednesday in Voorhees.

In the second period of a scrimmage, 6-foot-7, 230-pound Samuel Morin appeared to be lining up Zayde Wisdom for a hit. But players got tangled, and Morin and Nolan Patrick, his teammate on the Orange squad, collided.

That’s the same Nolan Patrick who missed the entire 2019-20 season because of a migraine disorder, and hadn’t had any significant contact in camp.

The good news: Patrick, who got up slowly and went to the bench, did not miss a shift in a 50-minute scrimmage won by the Orange, 4-2.

“I wasn’t concerned at all,” coach Alain Vigneault said after the camp session. “That’s part of the game, We are going to see that. Everything that I have seen from Nolan so far seems good, and he is good to go.”

Patrick, 22, has played well in all three scrimmages.

“He’s ready,” right winger Jake Voracek said. “You can tell he’s ready.”

“The natural skill, that doesn’t go away,” goalie Brian Elliott said.

Provy’s (revolving) partner

For the third straight day, Ivan Provorov had a different partner. On Wednesday, it was Shayne Gostisbehere’s turn to be with the Flyers’ No. 1 defenseman.

Provorov was with Justin Braun and Mark Friedman, respectively, in the first two days of camp.

The Flyers are searching for someone to replace the retired Matt Niskanen on the top pairing.

Scrimmage stuff

In the Orange’s win over the Black, the winners got goals from Andy Andreoff, Linus Sandin, Provorov, and Joel Farabee (empty-netter). Provorov scored the game-winner on a two-on-one with Claude Giroux.

Tyson Foerster and Oskar Lindblom scored for the Black.

Opening-night lines?

Vigneault is still tinkering with his lineup, but it’s not out of the question that the top four lines used in Wednesday’s scrimmage could open the season against visiting Pittsburgh on Jan. 13.

The lines: Sean Couturier centering Lindblom and Travis Konecny; Kevin Hayes centering Giroux and Farabee; Patrick centering James van Riemsdyk and Voracek; and Scott Laughton centering Michael Raffl and Nic Aube-Kubel.

The top defensive pairings Wednesday: Provorov and Gostisbehere; Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers; Robert Hagg and Erik Gustafsson; Egor Zamula and Justin Braun; and Derrick Pouliot and Mark Friedman. Pouliot, who turns 27 next week, was signed as a free agent in the offseason. He was drafted eighth overall by Pittsburgh in 2012 and has played parts of six NHL seasons.

Breakaways

The Flyers continued to do lots of work in shootouts, where they have the league’s worst record (50-88, .362 winning percentage) in NHL history. “With how tight the division is supposed to be, those extra points will be huge,” Elliott said. ... The Flyers will not practice Thursday and will be back on the ice Friday morning in Voorhees. ... Sunday’s 7 p.m. intrasquad game will be televised by NBC Sports Philadelphia; it will also be available to stream live on the MyTeams app and NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com.