Flyers D Coburn out for Game Three

May 13, 2008 - 7:17 PM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Already without their top defenseman, the Philadelphia Flyers will be forced to continue their Eastern Conference final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins with their No. 2 blue-liner on the sidelines.

Braydon Coburn is out for Tuesday's Game Three as he still nurses a facial injury he suffered in Sunday's 4-2 loss in Game Two.

Coburn left Sunday's setback at the Mellon Arena just 1:51 into the first period after being on the receiving end of a puck to the face.

Pittsburgh defenseman Hal Gill blasted a shot from the left point that deflected off All-Star Evgeni Malkin's stick and into the face of Coburn, hitting the 23-year-old near the left eye. Coburn immediately fell to the ice and was bleeding profusely.

After being attended to by trainers, Coburn quickly retreated to the locker room and did not return.

His left eye was still swollen shut on Tuesday and it is not known when he will be able to return to the Flyers' lineup.

"I feel fine," Coburn said. "You know, my eye is swollen shut, so it makes it a little hard to do things. But besides that, I feel alright.

"I think as soon as my eye opens up, we'll re-evaluate what's going on. But I'm ... my self-prognosis, or whatever it is, is that as soon as it opens up, I'm going to play."

The loss of Coburn is yet another blow to Philadelphia, which began the conference finals without All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was diagnosed with a blood clot in his left foot on Thursday. The Finn will miss the entire series, and likely the Stanley Cup Finals should the Flyers advance.

The Flyers trail in the series, two games to none, and will insert rookie defenseman Ryan Parent into the lineup for Game Three.

Parent has been a healthy scratch in every game since Philadelphia's first playoff game against Washington on April 11.

"We're fully confident Ryan can come in and play well," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "He's an excellent defender. If anything, he's a guy that has the skill set to come in and help us right now."