Michael Raffl Expected Back in Lineup on Tuesday

VOORHEES — Michael Raffl remembers nearly everything from Saturday night when he collapsed on the Flyers’ bench against the New York Rangers.

He remembers Claude Giroux thinking it was a joke, telling him, “Raff, move!” and not being able to. He remembers being walked down the hallway and shooing away a wheelchair that was offered to him. After two woozy steps, he gladly accepted.

"I was sitting next to G," Raffl said. “I remember that. Then I woke up and he was holding me.  It was just for a couple seconds, I guess, that I lost consciousness. I asked him what happened, why everyone was freaking out. I didn’t know.”

Jake Voracek was in the penalty box at the time, watching helplessly as his teammates were on the bench frantically tending to the first-line left winger.

“When you see the guys on the bench and they’re looking down at their feet, that’s never a good thing,” Voracek said.

Raffl went back to the bench after his jaw met Jarret Stoll’s elbow. The Rangers forward had his back to Raffl, not even knowing the Flyer was there. Raffl skated back to the bench on his own, feeling dizzy before he temporarily left consciousness.

He said the same thing happened when he was 18, playing for his hometown team in Villach, Austria, when he broke his jaw and lost consciousness for a bit. Considering the lack of a broken bone this time, Saturday was a better outcome.

“Just a shot on my chin and a knockout point, I guess,” Raffl said. “Nothing too serious. I was fine 10 minutes after and I feel fine today and (Sunday) was perfect.”

He passed concussion protocol and is “all clear.” He will play Tuesday when the Buffalo Sabres come to town. For a while there, that didn’t look likely.