Flyers vs. Penguins: Nicklas Grossman Has Concussion, Won't Play in Game 5

As if the defense of the Philadelphia Flyers just couldn’t get worse after they gave up 10 goals on Wednesday night to the Pittsburgh Penguins, they will now be without yet another key defensman. Nicklas Grossman was hit in the head twice in Game 4 and will miss Game 5 with a concussion.

This means that rookie Erik Gustafsson will make his playoff debut Friday night.

“Our team has done has an exceptional job this year,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Guys moving up in their role.

“Guys coming into the lineup, who had been out of the lineup a little bit. Recalls we’ve used from our minor-league affiliate. I think our team has handled those situations well.

“The fact that we’ve lost another defenseman is hard to take. But in saying that, our team has filled this spot all year long. We had close to 450 man games to injury. This isn’t something new to us. We’d much rather have Grossmann in there … that’s not an option right now.”

The team traded for Grossman during the season and he’s been great in blocking shots and improving the overall defense. This is a huge loss for a team that umm…just gave up 10 goals in a single game.