Cates to miss rest of Eastern 2nd Round for Flyers with lower-body injury

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Noah Cates will miss the remainder of the Eastern Conference Second Round for the Philadelphia Flyers because of a lower-body injury.

The center sustained the injury during a 3-2 overtime loss at the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 on Monday. He played 20:53, including 3:23 during overtime.

Philadelphia trails 3-0 in the best-of-7 series following a 4-1 loss in Game 3 on Thursday.

"He's a big part of our team," Flyers captain Sean Couturier said Wednesday. "I think you can rely on him to really not make any mistakes. He's just going to play the right way, be on the right side of the puck. ... He's just a really reliable player for us."

Cates' absence impacts all aspects of the Flyers' game. He has four points (one goal, three assists) and is averaging 16:20 of ice time in eight games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's the only Philadelphia forward to play more than 2:00 per game on the power play (2:53) and penalty kill (2:19).

"He's Mr. Consistency," coach Rick Tocchet said. "He does a lot of things for us, but it's no different than other teams. Next man up.

"You'll see (Denver) Barkey getting more time at center; thought he did a nice job (in Game 2). Trevor (Zegras) is going to have to go back to center again. We'll try to get him going. And obviously 'Coots' (Couturier) is playing really well, and you got 'Devo' (Christian Dvorak). We're good there. We'll be OK."

With the Flyers having the last change at home in Games 3 and 4, Tocchet likely would have matched Cates against the Hurricanes' scorching line of center Logan Stankoven, left wing Taylor Hall and right wing Jackson Blake. They have combined for eight points (four goals, four assists) in the first two games of the series, with Stankoven (Game 1) and Hall (Game 2) each with a game-winning goal.

"Going to have to manipulate how we're going to do with those lines," Tocchet said. "Obviously the Stankoven line has been a pain in Ottawa's (against the Senators in the first round) and our side, so we have to neutralize that line. Other than that, we've been pretty good against the other lines. So, we're going to have to put a couple lines (together) where we can neutralize."

On the penalty kill, Tocchet said forward Carl Grundstrom could see extra time, though he only played 40 seconds while short-handed in Game 3.

Philadelphia also added center Jett Luchanko to the roster Wednesday following the end of his season with Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League on Monday. The 19-year-old began the season with the Flyers but was returned to his junior team after going without a point in four games. He had 43 points (seven goals, 36 assists) in 38 games with Brantford and Guelph this season, and seven points (two goals, five assists) in 15 OHL playoff games.

Luchanko did not play in Game 3.

"He looks fast out there," Tocchet said. "There's some other elements to the game he's going to improve this summer. Could be a possibility."

Regardless of who plays, Tocchet is trying to keep the focus on the opportunities other players are going to get rather than the holes created without Cates in the lineup.

"These are bumps in the road we're going to have to deal with, but there's opportunity for guys," he said.