Sean Couturier’s challenging second half took another unfortunate turn when the Philadelphia Flyers’ captain departed Monday night’s game against the New York Islanders with what seemed to be an upper-body injury.
Islanders’ defenseman Ryan Pulock pushed Couturier into the boards 12 minutes into the match before New York gained the lead with a Bo Horvat shot just 18 seconds after tying the game with a deflected shot by Matt Martin. The newly appointed captain fell awkwardly into the boards and left the ice showing clear signs of discomfort as the Islanders surged ahead.
Couturier’s remarkable comeback from nearly two years of surgery-related setbacks has taken a downturn since assuming the captaincy, marking the 20th in the team’s history. The 31-year-old forward tallied 11 goals and 33 assists in 50 games before being named captain but has only managed 3 assists with a troubling -16 rating in the 19 games since then. Monday’s game was supposed to mark Couturier’s return to the top line and power play after being benched twice in March by coach John Tortorella, but like many plans for the Flyers in recent months, it didn’t go as expected.
Goalkeeper Sam Ersson also exited the game, but it was a tactical decision by his coach rather than due to an injury. His replacement, Ivan Fedotov, who arrived in America just last weekend after being detained in military service in 2022 and subsequently returning to the KHL, became the joint-tallest goalie in NHL history upon his second-period debut.
Despite Fedotov’s solid performance in the second period, stopping 15 of 16 shots, the Flyers trailed 3-2 after two frames. If Philadelphia fails to mount a comeback against the Islanders, the latter will re-enter a tight race for the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed.