Esche likely to return tonight

Someone tell Bob Clarke he can come back down from the ledge. All is well this morning in Flyerdom. There might yet be a Stanley Cup in the club's future.

Robert Esche took a shot off the face mask in Friday's Game 4 and then had concussion-like symptoms on Sunday. Turns out, however, that Esche is suffering from the flu.

The Flyers' goalie took a significant amount of medication following Sunday's 7-2 rout against the Toronto Maple Leafs and is expected to be in goal tonight when Ken Hitchcock's team attempts to close out its Eastern Conference semifinal series in six games at Air Canada Centre.

"Robert was diagnosed with flu-like symptoms and dehydration, but he felt better [yesterday]," Hitchcock said, adding that the reason the team delayed announcing what was wrong with him was because it wasn't sure if it was the flu or a concussion reaction to taking a shot from Bryan McCabe off his face mask in Game 4.

"We weren't really sure," Hitchcock said. "We were thinking the same thing you guys saw - the shot to the mask. We thought it was connected... . When you are dealing with light-headedness and dizziness, you have to look at both aspects of it. Is it a blow to the head or flu-like symptoms?"

Esche went through a light workout on the ice yesterday and a harder cardio workout and felt fine. That convinced the club he was suffering from the same flu that had hit Mark Recchi before Game 3 in Toronto. Esche was in fine spirits yesterday, laughing and joking with Al Morganti of WIP-AM (610) about Ping-Pong.

Reporters wanted to know how Esche felt, but he has maintained his "Silent Bob" routine between games throughout the playoffs. Hitchcock then went to Esche - at the request of the Professional Hockey Writers Association/Philadelphia Chapter - and asked the goalie to give a statement.

"I feel really good," Esche said through Hitchcock, the interpreter. "I had a lot of jump today. I felt much better this morning after I woke up. My energy level felt back to normal."

Just to be safe and not sorry, Hitchcock said Antero Niittymaki would accompany the team to Toronto. If Esche can't play, Sean Burke, who played 40 minutes in relief Sunday, would start tonight.

The only bad news yesterday was that defenseman Vladimir Malakhov has a concussion after being run into the back boards by Toronto's Darcy Tucker in the opening period of Game 5. He is doubtful for tonight.

That injury again changes the Flyers' lineup. If Malakhov can't play, then Sami Kapanen, who was so effective on Keith Primeau's checking line with Simon Gagne, will shift back to defense.

Branko Radivojevic, who was plus-4 in Game 5, would replace Kapanen on Primeau's line. When Malakhov didn't return in Sunday's rout, Kapanen moved to defense and Radivojevic moved to Primeau's line. Overall, Radivojevic had an impact in nearly nine minutes of ice time, with a goal and an assist.

"He was really good with Primeau," Hitchcock said. "He was tenacious. This is the fourth time this has happened with Branko. The more he plays, the better he is. We've got to adopt that attitude [that] if we are going to use him, we need to use him a lot because he gets better with additional responsibility."

The Flyers are hoping they won't need a Game 7 back in Philly on Thursday night. So far in the series, the home team has not only won every game, but won it convincingly.

Hitchcock has already prepared his players for how Leafs goalie Ed Belfour responds to potential close-out games, especially when his team has been embarrassed.

During the Dallas Stars' 1999 Stanley Cup run, they lost Game 5 on home ice, 7-5, to Colorado in the Western Conference finals. Belfour had gotten roughed up and had to clear his mind quickly because the Stars were down in the series, three games to two, much like Toronto is this morning.

"We were devastated," Hitchcock recalled. "We had 24 hours to recover and everything had blown up in one hockey game. We got blown out. Peter Forsberg had five or six points. We looked tired and vulnerable.

"Ed was a big [part] of why we did come back. We had to throw a perfect game in Colorado [in Game 6]. We came back with a big push and he was excellent in the first five shifts. We fed off that energy [in] Game 7, too. But it was all built on Game 6."

The point Hitchcock is making is that he expects Belfour to have a great Game 6 tonight in Toronto.

"We'd like to get a win in their building so we don't have to come back here and take a chance on Game 7," said Primeau, the team captain.