The first in-season casualty has struck the Flyers.

Forward Zac Rinaldo will miss at least one week after suffering a laceration to his leg above his right knee and near his thigh after a first period collision with Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr.

When the two collided, Regehr’s skate cut Rinaldo, resulting in a gash that needed 20 stitches to close.

The Flyers recalled Tye McGinn from the Phantoms to replace Rinaldo in the lineup.

It’s likely that McGinn will be in the lineup tomorrow in New Jersey, otherwise the Flyers wouldn’t have recalled him and went with either Tom Sestito or Jody Shelley, who were healthy scratches in the first two games of the season.

McGinn caught a bit of a travel break actually. The Phantoms were in Atlantic City Sunday for a game against the Albany Devils, who are playing four home games at the shore this season in anticipation of a possible move there once their contract with Albany expires.

Rather than take the five hour bus trip back to Glens Falls with the Phantoms, the Flyers asked McGinn to stick around for the night as they awaited a status update on Rinaldo after he visited the doctor this morning.

Once it was confirmed that Rinaldo couldn’t play with the stitches, McGinn was officially recalled. If Rinaldo would have been cleared, McGinn would have been sent back to Glens Falls without ever joining the Flyers.

However, this is an opportunity for McGinn to make an impression with the big club after doing a fine job with the Phantoms this season.

He looked good in training camp with the Flyers, but was sent back to Adirondack as part of a numbers game, but the Flyers liked him enough that it was a no-brainer he would be recalled at the first sign of injury.

In other injury news, Danny Briere skated on his own Sunday and is getting better with each passing day, but the likelihood of him being back for either Tomorrow’s game in New Jersey or Thursday’s game against New York seems like a longshot.

Briere is hoping to return over the weekend, as the Flyers play a pair of road games against Florida and Tampa Bay.