If there was ever a cause to rally upon, the Philadelphia Flyers certainly have it as they continue their round-robin tournament for the top seeding in the Eastern Conference.
Left-winger Oskar Lindblom, at just 23, is skating in Sweden after completing chemotherapy treatments for a rare bone cancer last month.
He could join the Flyers in Toronto sometime this week, per reports.
The young Flyers’ star had a breakout season interrupted by the unthinkable — something no one should ever have to go through, let alone a 23-year-old — when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in December.
He was forced to miss the final 39 regular-season games as he underwent treatment after sharing the team lead with 11 goals. His previous career-high was 17 last year in just his second NHL season — a mark that would have been shattered had such unfortunate circumstances not come into play.
Of course, it remains to be seen if Lindblom would actually be fit to play in the postseason for the Flyers, who are battling to get the top seed in the Eastern Conference via the NHL’s round-robin tournament to decipher its best teams.
The Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in the round-robin opener to shoot to the top of the standings.
They meet the Washington Capitals on Thursday afternoon (4 p.m. ET) before completing the mini-tournament on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Philadelphia handled the Capitals fairly well during the regular season, winning three of four games, including three-in-a-row by a combined score of 15-6.
The same can’t be said against the Tampa Bay Lightning as the Flyers dropped both of their 2019-20 meetings to Steven Stamkos and Co.
Should the Flyers hold on to the top seed, they will face the lowest remaining seed in the East in the conference quarterfinals.
As it currently stands, that could be the No. 12 Montreal Canadiens, who are proving to be a handful for the No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins.
If not, it appears the Toronto Maple Leafs or Columbus Blue Jackets at No. 8 or No. 9 respectively would be the next likely opponent as they are tied in their best-of-five series at one game apiece.
