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Manning couldn't avoid McDavid collision

Brandon Manning knew Connor McDavid was hurt as soon as they hit the boards. Looking at the replays of that three-player pileup Tuesday night in Edmonton, it's a wonder McDavid was the only casualty.
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CP photo

Brandon Manning knew Connor McDavid was hurt as soon as they hit the boards.

Looking at the replays of that three-player pileup Tuesday night in Edmonton, it's a wonder McDavid was the only casualty.

Manning, a Philadelphia Flyers defenceman from Prince George, was doing his job trying to prevent the budding Edmonton Oilers superstar from tracking the puck after McDavid launched a shot at the Flyers' net while killing a penalty with 1:44 left in the second period. Manning's defence partner, Michael Del Zotto, was closing in on both players when McDavid lost an edge, causing Manning to fall on top of him. Del Zotto also fell to the ice and hit the end boards with his back to the wall.

"He just kind of went inside-outside on me and after he shot I think he was a little off-balance and Del Zotto came across to hit him and it's pretty clear when you watch the replay (McDavid) catches his left edge and trips all three of us up," said Manning.

"Obviously with my body weight and his speed going into the boards you can clearly see he went shoulder-first. Just the way he was sitting there I kind of knew right away it was either his shoulder or his collarbone and obviously it was pretty serious. It's unfortunate for him and unfortunate for the game of hockey He's an exciting player and you could see it in the one game we played with him. Hopefully he recovers soon and helps his team down the stretch."

McDavid was due to have surgery Wednesday to have plates and screws inserted to fix his collarbone and he's expected to miss several months. The 18-year-old rookie had five goals and seven assists in 12 games and was the NHL's rookie of the month for October. After playing against McDavid for two periods Tuesday, Manning knows he's a special player.

"If you look at guys like Jake Voracek or (Nail) Yakupov you know they have speed right off the bat and once they get going they're hard to contain, but he is a little more deceiving," said the 25-year-old Manning. "He goes from zero to 100 really quick and he's shifty as well. It makes it hard to play against and you can just see his hockey sense and his ability out there."

The Flyers (4-6-2) are in Calgary tonight to play the Flames and will try to snap out of a five-game losing streak. The Oilers scored three goals in the third period Tuesday to beat the Flyers 4-2. The first stop of their Western Canada tour was Monday night in Vancouver, where the Canucks won 4-1.

Manning, who spent four seasons in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins, is now a veteran of 30 NHL games over four seasons. He's skated in nine of the Flyers' 12 games since making the team in training camp and has so far been held without a point. He played 17:40 of Tuesday's game, including some power-play duty, and finished with a plus-1 rating, and was on the ice for 17:39 of the Vancouver game, where he was a minus-1.

The Manning family entourage from Prince George has been following his progress. Parents Paula and Leroy and his oldest sister Kaitlyn have been with Manning since the start of the trip and will be in the crowd tonight in Calgary and on Saturday when the Flyers play in Winnipeg.

"We're down to six D-men on this road trip so having the ability to know you're going to be playing every game helps your confidence and I'm definitely getting more comfortable now," said Manning.

"It's been a bit of a tough stretch for the team here, but for myself it's just exciting to get into the games, whether it's playing in Vancouver in front of friends and family or Edmonton or Calgary where you play junior and grow up being around those cities. It was fun to be out there on the ice in Vancouver. I've been to a few Canucks games and there's something about playing in Vancouver, it has a special feel."

The Flyers have called up 30-year-old D Davis Drewiske from Lehigh Valley of the AHL to replace Evgeny Medvedev, who went down with an upper-body injury before the game in Vancouver.