MONTREAL -- It's a skate-sharpening mystery for the Philadelphia Flyers.
A mysterious substance on the rubberized mat leading out of the Flyers locker room created dents in several players' skate blades during Philadelphia's 3-0 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals over the host Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Flyers captain Mike Richards said he didn't know what the substance was, but referred to it as being too big for sand pellets. Forward Claude Giroux told reporters in French that whatever the substance was, it caused a big dent in his blade, forcing him to miss a few shifts as it was sharpened.
The Flyers' equipment staff eventually laid towels across the mats.
NBC first reported the problem during its telecast of the game, referring to the substance as sand.
