Zac Rinaldo

Flyers left wing Zac Rinaldo (left) takes a shot on Rob Zepp during Tuesday's morning skate. (Randy Miller/NJ Advance Media)

VOORHEES — Flyers left wing Zac Rinaldo had a lot of time to soul search about his game, which now has three suspensions and seven goals in four NHL seasons.

His ugly hit that injured Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and shocking post-game comments on Jan. 20 were severely punished by the NHL's department of safety, which issued an eight-game suspension.

Eight games and almost a month later, Rinaldo had served his time and was eligible to play for the Flyers on Tuesday night against Columbus.

Instead, he'll sit and watch again ... this time as a healthy scratch. And it could take an injury for a teammate to get Rinaldo another opportunity because the Flyers were 4-0-4 in his absence.

Approached at his locker after Tuesday's morning skate, Rinaldo had little to say.

Asked if he's happy to ...

Rinaldo cut off the question and responded, "Not suspended? Yep. Yeah, it's a good feeling not to be suspended. Yep."

Was it killing him to sit out all those games?

"Killing me? No," he said. "It put me in a better shape."

By that, Rinaldo means he's in better shape from all the extra skating he was doing after practices and morning skates with teamamtes also out of the Flyers lineup of late.

"Yep," he said. "I think it definitely helped my game. I worked on everything ... shooting, stick handling."

And now for the $73,172 question - that's how much Rinaldo lost in wages during his suggestion - will he change the way he plays?

"I don't know," Rinaldo said. "I don't know."

He thought for a moment, then added one more "I don't know" before ending the interview by walking away from his locker.

MORE ON ZAC RINALDO:

• Did Flyers' Zac Rinaldo really brag about reckless hit that injured Penguins' Kris Letang?

• Flyers' Zac Rinaldo getting Twitter hate messages for dirty hit on Penguins' Kris Letang

• WATCH: Dirtiest hits by Flyers' Zac Rinaldo, who awaits another suspension

• Flyers supporting Zac Rinaldo, who tells GM he 'feels horrible' about hurting Kris Letang, comments

• VOTE: Is Flyers' Zac Rinaldo now NHL's dirtiest player?

• Flyers' Zac Rinaldo, suspended 8 games, gets more Twitter hate and support, too

• Flyers' Zac Rinaldo pulls a Marshawn Lynch talking about his 8-game suspension

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com Philadelphia Sports on Facebook.