PHILADELPHIA -- Sean Couturier is hoping to put the past week behind him and get back to contributing to the Philadelphia Flyers' push for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Flyers captain returned to the lineup for a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday after being a healthy scratch for two games.
The center had one shot on goal and two hits, going 4-for-8 on face-offs in 13:09 of ice time, all at even strength. His line, with left wing Noah Cates and right wing Olle Lycksell, was a consistent presence in the offensive zone.
"It's behind me now," Couturier said. "I don't want to really talk about it. I just want to help the team in any way I can. It all worked out well."
It didn't start out well, when Couturier was scratched in a 4-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, the first time in his 12-season NHL career he didn't play a game when healthy. Couturier at the time said he wasn't sure what coach John Tortorella wanted to see from him.
Whatever it was, it had been lacking for some time. Couturier had one goal in his previous 27 games, and in the nine games before he came out of the lineup his ice time had been cut to 14:04 per game, down from 19:20 in the first 55 games of the season, when he was a presence on the power play and penalty kill.
That's a lot of ice time, especially for a player who started this season after missing 22 months of action, including all of last season, recovering from two back surgeries.
"He played a lot of heavy minutes," general manager Daniel Briere said on the "Snow The Goalie" podcast prior to the game Saturday. "Is that what caught up to him? I don't know. But he's lost a little bit of his jump lately."
Having a few days to work on his play away from game action seemed to have Couturier playing more refreshed.
"I felt great," he said. "Just happy to be back and contribute in any way I can. ... Definitely felt fresh. Had a week to kind of just recover, refocus, recharge the battery. Any way I can help the team I'll do it, and that's all that matters."
Couturier begrudgingly admitted that missing two games in March could be a net positive for the Flyers as they look to play deep into the spring. Philadelphia (36-26-9) is third in the Metropolitan Division, two points ahead of the fourth-place Washington Capitals.
"That's the way I tried to see it anyway," he said. "Tried to work on my game. Obviously having a couple days off definitely helps with the body and [to] feel fresh. Just thought I'd I try to bring some energy tonight."
Couturier also said there were no issues between him and Tortorella, and Briere said he wasn't concerned about it either.
"John, it's not his job to be best friends with the players," Briere said. "It's his job to get the most out of them. You can agree or disagree with how he goes about it, but at the end of the day that's his job."
Briere and Couturier have been close since Couturier lived at Briere's house for his first two seasons in the NHL, when the latter was a Flyers forward. Because of that, Briere wasn't worried because about how Couturier would handle being out.
"Sean Couturier the person that I know, the leader that I know, not happy about it, and he did make a couple comments," Briere said. "But he's not going to let it trickle through the locker room. He cares about his teammates, he cares about his team."
Forward Travis Konecny said Couturier handled the past week the way a captain should.
"There's no doubt in my mind that when he was out of the lineup, he wanted nothing more than us to get those two points every night," Konecny said. "He's our leader. You just know that he wants the same thing, nothing more than to make the playoffs. He was staying ready and showed it tonight. He came in and did a great job."
Briere said he knows how important Couturier will be for the Flyers as they try to reach the postseason for the first time since 2020, and Couturier said he just wants to do his part.
"You want to help in any way you can at this time of the year," he said. "It all worked out. ... Just going to try to help this team in any way like I've always been doing."
