Anthony SanFilippo, Of the Times Staff
01/05/2007

NEW YORK -- It seemed like any sort of goaltending controversy in town was long gone. After Robert Esche imploded earlier this season, and Antero Niittymaki carried the bulk of the load, it seemed pretty obvious that Niittymaki was the starter and Esche was the backup.

Niittymaki has missed time recovering from a second cortisone injection into his left hip -- he has a torn labrum that will require surgery in the summer -- as well as a mild groin strain. In the meantime, Esche has come in to play and been scorching hot.

He has stopped 121 of the 128 shots he’s faced in the last three starts, all of which were Flyers wins.

And while Niittymaki wasn’t bad before that, he did lose 10 straight games.

So now that Niittymaki is healthy enough to be back on the active roster, the big question becomes, does he get his job back, or does the team stick with the hot-handed Esche?

"We’re going to get Niittymaki good and healthy here before we have to deal with that," said coach John Stevens. "The way the trip is set up, Niittymaki is going to back up so he’s obviously felt a lot better, but with the way our schedule is set up, both guys are going to get an opportunity to play."

Pretty non-committal answer by the coach, eh?

"I don’t even want to talk about that situation to be honest with you," said Stevens after being pressed on the subject. "Esche is going to continue to get starts in the net and Niittymaki is going to have to play because both goalies are a little banged up right now.

"It seems like we want to make a big issue of it right away, but really Esche has waited a long time to play really good hockey and he’s playing great right now and we’ve put a burden on one goalie here and we’ve ended up with two goalies being banged up, and we’ve ended up with two good goalies here and both goalies are going to get a chance to play because they have to, but Esche has earned the right to be back in there starting (Thursday)."

Sounds perplexed, doesn’t he?

Well, ask Niittymaki, and he’ll be brutally honest about what direction his coach should go.

"I don’t think it’s (my) job," said Niittymaki. "Especially when you lose every game. I lost 10 straight games. If I’m the coach, I would keep the guy in net who is winning games. It’s pretty simple.

"I don’t think there’s too many guys in this league who can keep their job if they (lose) 10 or 15 straight games. (Martin) Brodeur, (Miikka) Kiprusoff, (Roberto) Luongo -- that’s pretty much it. If one guy is hot and the other guy is losing all of their games, (you) figure out who is going to play."

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Peter Forsberg went back to Philadelphia Thursday and met with doctors at Temple University where he picked up two new orthotic devices to help his troubled right skate.

However, due to a need for a conditioning workout before rejoining the team in New York in time for their flight to Boston, Forsberg was unable to try them out.

Forsberg has an appointment with a team of doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital today, including the doctor who repaired the ligament damage in Curt Schilling’s ankle. He hopes to try out the orthotics today, but if not, won’t get a chance until Saturday.

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Sami Kapanen returned to action following a concussion he suffered in Carolina on New Year’s Eve.

With he and Niittymaki back in the lineup, goalie Scott Munroe was sent back to the Phantoms of the AHL.

To contact Anthony J. SanFilippo, e-mail asanfilippo@delcotimes.com