PHILADELPHIA — Captain Sean Couturier, a 13-veteran of the Philadelphia Flyers, was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career on Tuesday night, missing out on a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Flyers coach John Tortorella — who has never been afraid to sit star players in any of his career stops, including in Philadelphia last season with former forward Kevin Hayes — scratched Couturier, 31, who was named team captain in mid-February.
After the team’s morning skate on Tuesday, Couturier expressed his displeasure with what he called limited communication from his coach, who is in his second season with the Flyers.
“I’ve been putting the work in for a while,” said Couturier, who has 11 goals and 36 points this season. “I’ve been struggling, but I’ve been working on my game, and it’s frustrating the way I’ve been treated around here lately. But it is what it is.
“I control what I can control. … I’m going to move on. It doesn’t matter what I think. I’ve got to leave my ego aside. Hopefully, I can get back into [the lineup] soon.”
Tortorella spoke swiftly and succinctly during his postgame news conference when the lineup decisions came up.
“As I told you, I’m putting the players out on the ice to win a particular game,” he said. “These were the 20 that we decided to go with.”
When pressed further, he passed on Couturier questions.
“I’m not talking on Sean. I’m not debating with you,” the coach said. “I’m not conversing with it. It’s between Sean and I. So, just talk to me about the game, guys.”
Without the captain, Owen Tippett scored 19 seconds into the game and added an assist, and Morgan Frost had a goal and an assist as the Flyers hung on at home.
Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, and Samuel Ersson, who was pulled in two of his previous three starts, made 27 saves, including a stop of Bobby McMann on a short-handed breakaway in the second period.
“Our team played good tonight,” Tortorella added, when finally asked about other players.
The Flyers had lost three of four entering the game and allowed 19 goals in their three losses. The win pushed them three points ahead of the Washington Capitals for the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
“No one gave us a chance at all to start the year. … I think we’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations so far,” Frost said on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s postgame show when assessing the Flyers’ playoff chances. “It’s about excitement and trying to prove people wrong and get in the playoffs.”
Facing a three-goal deficit at the start of the third period, Toronto tried to mount a comeback. William Nylander scored on a power play, and Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares added goals.
But Ersson made several big saves in the final 10 minutes, and Laughton’s score with seven minutes left restored a two-goal advantage and helped ice the win.
Ilya Samsonov had 24 saves for Toronto, which had its three-game point streak halted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com