Meszaros Returning to Flyers Lineup Tonight Vs. Ducks

By Anthony SanFilippo, Flyers.com

So, Andrej Meszaros will be back in the lineup for the Flyers tonight against the high-powered Anaheim Ducks (nee: Mighty).

Head coach Craig Berube said he wanted to get Meszaros back into the lineup after sitting out the past five games.

Meszaros will replace Erik Gustafsson in the lineup. Gustafsson had a rough night on defense against the New York Islanders, one of the few Flyers who wasn’t clicking on all cylinders.

Many will view this as a demotion for Gustafsson, but I’m told it’s not that, but more a chance to get Meszaros feeling good about himself again.

After all, and this is no disrespect to Gustafsson, but it’s not like Meszaros in replacing Kimmo TImonen orBraydon Coburn. He’s flip-flopping with the other No. 6 defenseman.

“I’ve done the same thing with [Adam Hall] and [Jay] Rosehill,” Berube said. “It’s a matter of matchups and keeping these guys knowing that they are part of the team and they are going to be able to help the team. I’ll give [Meszaros] tomorrow and then probably another game and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Berube later added that Gustafsson had been playing well before the Islanders game and that the young defenseman should not view this as a demotion, but rather understand that it’s part of the rotation.

Berube pointed out that all the players in the room “get it” and understand how this is going to work. He especially had glowing things to say about Hal Gill, who is clearly the No. 8 defenseman.

“Hal knows what his role is here,” Berube said. “He is the ultimate pro. Everyone can learn a lot from a guy like him.”

Having Gill in practice every day is like having another defensive coach on the ice from whom the young players can glean good information.

Berube also like having eight defensemen in practice.

It makes things easier for what we have to do and keeps guys working with their partners and not trading off all the time to be with the odd guy.