Sean Couturier Injury: Updates on Flyers Star's Shoulder and Return

Joe PantornoApr 14, 2016

Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier left Game 1 of his team's Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Washington Capitals on Thursday after taking a big hit from Alex Ovechkin.

Continue for updates.

Latest on Couturier's Playing Status

Friday, April 15

The Flyers announced Couturier will be out for the next two weeks with an upper-body injury.

Couturier took the hit from Ovechkin with a little less than nine minutes remaining in the second period. He attempted a pass to an onrushing Brayden Schenn in the neutral zone and was hit shortly after he released the puck.

Couturier Crucial to Flyers' Depth, Grit

On a team that is highlighted by its playmaking forwards in Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux, Couturier provides a change of pace as a hardworking center on the second line.

He's never scored more than 15 goals in a season over the first five years of his career, but he did tie a career high with 39 points in 2015-16.

On a line with Michael Raffl and Schenn, the Flyers' second unit is tasked with supporting Giroux's line and frustrating the opposition's offense.

Thanks to their size—all three players are at least 6'0" and 195 pounds—they aren't afraid to throw the body around and are at times responsible for tracking the other team's best player.

In a March 30 game against the Capitals, which proved to be a playoff preview, Couturier spent 80.4 percent of his even-strength time on the ice with Ovechkin to shut him down, according to Jeff Neiburg of CSNPhilly.com. Ovechkin's Corsi percentage that day was 41.7 percent, which is low for the Washington star (53.1 percent on the season).

The Flyers were already up against it in this series against the Capitals. Now down 1-0 in the series after losing 2-0 on Thursday night, the Flyers will have to scramble to try to get back in the series against the Presidents' Trophy winners who also allowed the second-fewest goals in the league.

They'll also have to look for another option to step up to the second line and try to keep tabs on one of the best pure scorers the league has ever seen in Ovechkin.

That could spell disaster for them in the postseason.

Stats courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com and Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.