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Flyers might use James van Riemsdyk more Sunday

James van Riemsdyk

Philadelphia Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk celebrates after scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, in Philadelphia. Philadelphia won 5-4. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

AP

James van Riemsdyk returned from a foot injury for Game 5 of Philadelphia’s first-round series against Pittsburgh, but he didn’t get much playing time. He logged just 7:31 minutes in his series debut and 6:46 minutes in Game 6 on April 22.

Philadelphia didn’t require a Game 7 and they’ve had plenty of time to rest and prepare for the second round. For van Riemsdyk, that’s meant another week to heal and practice ahead of Sunday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils.

Nothing has been confirmed, but it looks like the extra time has paid off and van Riemsdyk will play a bigger role in the second round. He skated alongside Danny Briere and Jakub Voracek on Saturday, although practice lines should be taken with a grain of salt.

“No comments on lines,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said, “if you want to run with that [theory on change] you are more than welcome to; just leave me out of it.”

Ultimately, we’ll have to wait until Sunday to know for sure, but it wouldn’t be surprising if we see more of van Riemsdyk going forward.