Couturier gets hat trick for Flyers in Game 6 vs. Penguins with torn MCL

PHILADELPHIA -- Ivan Provorov summed up the sacrifice sometimes needed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in one sentence.

"As long as my arm was attached to me, then I was playing," the Philadelphia Flyers defenseman said after a season-ending 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
Provorov played 20:31 despite injuring his left shoulder crashing into the boards in the third period of Game 5 on Friday.
RELATED: [Complete Penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]
Teammate Sean Couturier revealed Sunday that he played Games 5 and 6 with a torn MCL in his right knee. All the forward did was score the winning goal in Game 5 and have a hat trick and two assists in Game 6.
"I just tried to lay it all out there, give it all I had," said Couturier, who missed Game 4 after colliding with defenseman Radko Gudas in practice Tuesday. "It's too bad we didn't come with the results we wanted."
Forward Wayne Simmonds said, "He's a warrior. … The way he handled himself after missing one game, came back and was the best player on the ice, he's been unbelievable for us."
Couturier gave the Flyers a 1-0 at 2:15 of the first period when he crashed the net and poked the puck under Penguins goalie Matt Murray, then won a puck battle leading to Andrew MacDonald's goal that made it 2-2 at 15:48.

His goal 40 seconds into the second period, 15 seconds after he helped kill a penalty, put the Flyers ahead 3-2. Then his saucer pass led to Scott Laughton's goal that made it 4-2 at 12:14.
"Credit to [Couturier], what he played through during the playoffs and the way he played," Laughton said. "I don't know what more to say about that guy. He's one of our leaders and he showed it and showed up every game and [I] can't say enough about that guy."
Couturier said that if this were the regular season, he likely would have been out four weeks.
"The decision was on me," Couturier said. "I had the support of the staff, the organization and medical team. They helped me a lot."
He skated Wednesday and Thursday on his own and played 16:55 in Game 5. He played 20:05 in Game 6, second among Philadelphia forwards to Claude Giroux (20:50).
Coach Dave Hakstol said he had to weigh how effective Couturier and Provorov could be with their injuries, and said he considered going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen to keep down Provorov's ice time. But that could have meant more of a burden on Couturier.

"Those two guys … they showed up and showed what type of character they have," Hakstol said. "I don't think there's any doubt in either one of their minds that if it was possible for them to be in the lineup then they were going to be in the lineup and they did that.
"[Couturier] today and in Game 5, there's a real mental toughness there in terms of being able to focus on the job at hand. I think he had to change the way he went about his job a little bit but he found a way to do the same job and for me that speaks a lot to physical toughness but that really speaks for me to the mental ability and mental presence to be able to go out and do a job even if you have to alter the way you do it."
It wasn't enough for the Flyers, but seeing what Couturier and Provorov fought through left an impression on their teammates.
"That was incredible," MacDonald said. "If you guys only knew what kind of shape those guys were in. I respect the [heck] out of those guys. It's so impressive that they are out there. That definitely gave us a huge boost."