Nick Piccone
After returning to the lineup Tuesday night against the Canadiens after missing three games with a lower-body injury, Sean Couturier is going back on the injured list. The Flyers announced today that the center will miss four weeks with a lower-body injury. Is it the same injury? It’s likely. Couturier left the game early last night against the Predators and didn’t return. Here’s what Dave Hakstol said regarding Couturier now having to miss a month of action:
Coots is a big loss to our team, but we’ve got a bunch of guys here that believe in what we’re doing,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “Everybody’s gonna have to chip in and take a little bit of that slack. One guy’s not gonna step into that role and do it all. Everybody’s got to step in. we’re gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep fighting and scratching and clawing and playing well.”
…
“He’s been an impact player for us at both ends of the rink. His role on the power play has been limited in terms of the amount of time his unit’s been getting, but he’s been doing a good job there. Overall, yeah, he’s been an impact player for us as at both ends of the rink. That’s why I say we have to have different players take pieces of what Coots does for us. I don’t think we’re gonna have one player step in and completely take that role.”
This doesn’t bode well for the Flyers in the long run at all.