the lineup for the remainder of January. He told reporters that he knew, even before suffering an acute injury at Carolina, that he would have to address his ongoing knee pain at some point, and that the surgery gave him a chance to reset and play without pain. His return to the club was muddled, however, and Alain Vigneault admitted that Gostisbehere likely would have benefitted from a rehab assignment with the Phantoms rather than returning immediately to NHL play. Between Gostisbehere's injury and a series of healthy scratches, he appeared in only two of the Flyers' last 26 games before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend play in March. During the NHL shutdown, Gostisbehere underwent a second surgery after realizing that his knee had not fully recovered from the first. When the NHL resumed for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in Toronto, Gostisbehere was one of 31 Flyers selected to play in the "bubble". He played in the first two games of the Flyers' opening series against the Montreal Canadiens, and started in the Game 6 lineup in place of Matt Niskanen, who had received a one-game suspension. The Flyers, buoyed by a strong defense, captured the series and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. There, the Flyers were defeated in seven games by the New York Islanders. Prior to the 2020–21 season, Gostisbehere contracted COVID-19, forcing him to miss the first six games of the shortened season. After a slow start as he regained his offensive ability, Gostisbehere looked to be returning to form, scoring five goals in 10 games between late February and early March. On March 30, 2021, however, the Flyers unexpectedly placed Gostisbehere on waivers, to add more "flexibility" to their 23-man roster. He cleared the process and was placed on the Flyers' taxi squad. Gostisbehere suffered another knee injury, a mild ACL sprain, on April 15, which took him out of the lineup for a week. On May 5, in another match against the Penguins, Gostisbehere received a two-game suspension for a hit to former teammate Mark Friedman. The suspension, the first of Gostisbehere's career, proved controversial, as the day before, Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals had not been suspended for a high-profile hit on Artemi Panarin. Despite these setbacks, Gostisbehere pushed through to score nine points in his final 16 games of the season. Altogether, he put up nine goals