The Philadelphia Flyers have gotten a lot of use out of their young players during the 2012 postseason, which makes the loss of Sean Couturier all the more devastating. Couturier was on the ice for just five shifts on Thursday before he left the game with a lower-body injury. According to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, he will not return.
Injury details are hard to come by during the playoffs, but Couturier reportedly has a cut.
Couturier hasn’t recorded a point since he got a hat trick and an assist in Game 2 of the Flyers’ first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Couturier has still been a big part of Philadelphia’s lineup. Going into Thursday’s game, he was averaging 16:50 minutes per contest in the playoffs and had not recorded less than 13:55 minutes in a single match during Philadelphia’s playoff run.
From the Flyers’ perspective, the good news is that they aren’t scheduled to play again until Sunday, which will give Couturier some time to heal up before Game 4.