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Flyers’ temporary life without Pronger begins tonight

Los Angeles Kings v Philadelphia Flyers

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 15: Andreas Lilja #6 of the Philadelphia Flyers controls the puck against Jarret Stoll #28 of the Los Angeles Kings on October 15, 2011 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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Life without Pronger sounds like it should be the title of a TV drama, but it’s real life drama for the Flyers starting tonight against Montreal. Chris Pronger’s scary eye injury will have him out of action for a bit and the Flyers will have to figure out how to replace his production on the ice and continue to win.

So just who is it that has the duty to fill those oversized skates? A pair of guys who didn’t figure to be carrying a large burden this season in Andreas Lilja and Matt Walker. Those two have been trading time in and out of the lineup this year as the sixth defenseman but now they’re both going to see action from the ice and not from the press box.

Sound scary? Yeah, it very well might be. Neither guy can bring what Pronger does to the ice and for Walker he’s spent more time in salary exile in the AHL than in the NHL and on the injured list. Lilja, meanwhile, has at least had success in the past with Detroit being part of a Stanley Cup winner in 2008.

Stanley Cup winning teams generally have to deal with some kind of trials and tribulations during the season and for the Flyers, getting by without Pronger will be their big test. Getting to warm up against the slumping, yet dangerous, Canadiens should prove to be a good way to warm up.