Flyers captain Claude Giroux took a maintenance day on Monday as Team Canada continues its preparations for its final pre-World Cup of Hockey tuneup game on Wednesday against Team Russia (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Giroux, who took an apparent knee-to-knee hit from Team USA forward Joe Pavelski in Canada's first pre-tournament game but returned to finish the game, told the media on Monday that he has "a couple bruises here and there" but is other fine. The player also indicated that the off-season surgeries he had on his hip and abdominal areas are unrelated to the current issue.
Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock told the press that he expects Giroux to return to practice on Tuesday and, presumably, to be available for the game against Russia on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Team Finland takes on Team USA (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) in each of those two squads' final tuneup game. The World Cup of Hockey preliminary round starts on Saturday.