Flyers C Briere to play vs. Lightning

Mar 6, 2008 - 11:02 PM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Philadelphia Flyers center Daniel Briere will return to the ice for Thursday night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Briere, who suffered a slight shoulder strain during Sunday's 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Rangers, missed Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Philadelphia is currently one point ahead of Buffalo for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

"He felt better this morning, got on the ice, took faceoffs, shot the puck, battled along the wall, and felt good in all those situations," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. "The doctor checked him out again, and he feels good enough to play.

"He's obviously a guy that we could use. We use Danny in a lot of key situations, and he has a big impact on our power play. He'll be a welcome addition back in our lineup."

Stevens said that Briere will be playing on a line with Vaclav Prospal and R.J. Umberger.

"That line, to me, looked like it was starting to click a little bit," Stevens said. "I thought they were starting to get a feel for each other and a little chemistry together, so we'll put them back together and look for some good things from that line."

One of the most covered free agents coming into the season, the 30-year-old Briere has 22 goals and 35 assists in 66 games.

Drafted 24th overall by Phoenix in 1996, Briere has reached the 20-goal plateau each of the last six seasons. In 549 career games with the Coyotes and Sabres, the Quebec native has collected 184 tallies and 249 assists.