Flyers on winning streak as they face former captain Claude Giroux in Ottawa

As Claude Giroux stepped off the Ottawa Senators ice Thursday morning, Sean Couturier stepped on.

It was Couturier’s first road morning skate of the season. Was it a coincidence that it just happened to be against his longtime friend and former captain’s new team?

Yes, it just happened that way, Couturier said. It also just happened to be Travis Konecny’s first road trip since his injury on Feb. 20 in Calgary.

Neither Konecny nor Couturier are in the lineup against the Senators as they continue to rehab. Giroux, meanwhile, has been sick. He didn’t participate in the Senators’ practice Wednesday, and he wasn’t able to get dinner with his former teammates. However, he felt well enough Thursday to play against the Flyers.

While Konecny’s trying to be patient through his recovery, he’s sad he won’t get to play against Giroux. The former Flyer said Konecny simultaneously was the best and worst former teammate to play against previously because the two kept slashing each other.

“He and I got along quite well,” Konecny said. “I obviously really miss him.”

Konecny, however, has faith that his current teammates will go to battle for him against Giroux, as well as former Flyers Derick Brassard and Patrick Brown.

“I’m sure the other guys here who are playing will get into it with those guys and have some fun with it,” Konecny said.

While his former teammates haven’t been able to follow Giroux’s season closely, they know Giroux has been thriving with the Senators. With 28 goals in 74 games, Giroux is scoring at the second-best rate (0.38 goals per game) of his career. Five years ago, Giroux scored 34 goals in 82 games (0.41).

What makes it even more impressive is he’s doing it at age 35 as the fourth-oldest player on the team. He’s third on the Senators in goals and points with 21-year-old Tim Stützle and 23-year-old Brady Tkachuk ahead of him and 25-year-old Alex DeBrincat behind him.

“He’s proving to everyone he’s not as old as people think, and he’s still playing like a young G,” Couturier said.

Giroux attributes it to his coaches and teammates, saying he’s found chemistry with the team. .

As someone who also has been traded by the Flyers, James van Riemsdyk, a close friend of Giroux’s, said joining a new team can be an invigorating challenge — if you let it. Giroux, who is a fierce competitor, has embraced that challenge.

While he wishes they were more of a playoff contender (they’re five points back), Giroux said everybody’s happy each day when they arrive at the rink. He’s also having fun playing with so many former Flyers. In addition to Brassard and Brown, who played here last season and was traded in March, he has Cam Talbot, a Flyer in 2018-19.

“It’s always fun when you have a player you played with before and then they come and join your team,” Giroux said with a grin, looking around the room, where Brassard’s and Brown’s lockers sit next to each other.

Back on the road with the team, Konecny no longer has to pester Travis Sanheim for daily updates. He joined the team for skates at home in mid-March, and he wasn’t looking forward to being left behind when the Flyers went back on the road.

“It just feels weird,” Konecny said. “It’s quieter on the rink. It’s not the same as normal.”

Between last season and this season, Couturier has gotten to know the quiet rink well. Getting to participate in a skate on the road felt like a huge step.

“Just being back around the boys, on the plane, playing cards, and going for a nice dinner last night, it’s something that I definitely missed,” Couturier said.

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While it’s a step forward for both players, neither have a set return date. Couturier said he feels “pretty much normal.” However, with opponents pushing for the playoffs, he said he needs to make sure he can keep up with the intensity of games. He’d love to play right now, but he’s not sure what the plan is. He is just doing all he can to make sure he’s ready once he has the green light.

Konecny, meanwhile, is taking a “day-to-day” mindset and has no timeline. While he’d also like to return before the end of the season, he wants to make sure he’s truly ready.

“If I could get back, it’d be super important to me, but, again, we’re gonna be really careful with that,” Konecny said.

The Flyers play the Senators at the Canadian Tire Center at 7 p.m. ... Felix Sandström gets the start in goal again because Carter Hart is sick and did not travel with the team. ... The Flyers will go back to 12 forwards and six defensemen, taking Justin Braun out and inserting Tanner Laczynski.

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