Flyers forward Kevin Hayes ‘wasn’t happy’ with benching, but ‘it’s not my decision’

When forward Kevin Hayes walked into the locker room on Saturday morning ahead of the Flyers’ game against the New York Rangers, he noticed that his name was not in the lineup, indicating that he would be a healthy scratch that night.

The decision by coach John Tortorella came in the wake of his benching of Hayes for the third period in the Flyers’ 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Hayes, 30, declined to comment about his removal from the lineup following morning skate on Saturday, but he discussed it on Monday after practice.

“I don’t think anyone enjoys being scratched, so [I] wasn’t happy,” Hayes said. “But it’s not my decision.”

Hayes is the Flyers’ leading scorer this season with 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists). However, while Tortorella has praised Hayes’ ability to create offense on a Flyers team that ranks 30th in the league in goals per game (2.41), the coach has been critical of Hayes’ defensive play. Recently, Hayes’ most glaring blunder came against the Devils in the second period when he committed a turnover at the offensive blue line to spring an odd-man rush by New Jersey.

However, Hayes did not pinpoint exactly why he was a healthy scratch against the Rangers. When asked about what Tortorella wants to see from him going forward, as Hayes will be back in the lineup on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hayes said, “I guess, be better defensively.”

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The turnover against the Devils, Hayes added, may have been the “icing on the cake” that influenced Tortorella’s decision to remove him from the lineup on Saturday.

“I think everyone on this team knows I wasn’t trying to turn the puck over,” Hayes said. “Come on. Two-on-one the other way, if you’re doing that, if you’re wanting to do that, you’re insane. So I guess I should have got the puck deep and, who knows? Maybe I would have been in the lineup the next game.”

While Tortorella acknowledged the public perception that Hayes was scratched because of the turnover, Tortorella said in general that he would never scratch a player because of one mistake. Tortorella declined to go into the exact reasoning behind his decision, but he said that “there is no disconnect” between him and Hayes regarding their communication on this topic.

“I have had many conversations with Kevin,” Tortorella said. “Had conversations prior to this. So again, I don’t want to get into a public debate with Kevin, with you guys, as far as why” he was scratched.

Hayes said he did not take away any positives from his night off on Saturday.

“I’m never going to say there’s a benefit to being benched,” Hayes said. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I should have been benched, but it’s not my decision. He’s the coach. I’m a player. He makes the lineup. He wants the best team on the ice to ultimately win and that’s what he went with that night.”

In addition to Hayes’ return, the Flyers will welcome back winger Wade Allison to the lineup on Tuesday. Allison, 25, has been dealing with an oblique muscle strain in his side and a hip pointer since Nov. 12 when he left the game against the Ottawa Senators.

Initially, Allison said he thought the injuries could have been season-ending, which would have been a difficult blow considering his lengthy injury history that has limited him to 29 career NHL games over three seasons.

“I was like, ‘Holy [bleep]. What the hell’s going on?’” Allison said. “It turned out to be better than I thought. So we’re good.”

While the injury wasn’t season-ending, his rehab took a little bit longer than anticipated. Allison’s initial timeline to return was approximately three weeks, but Tuesday marks more than five weeks since Allison got hurt.

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Tortorella is looking forward to Allison picking up where he left off. “I’m sure there’ll be some rust,” the coach said. “But for his game, as long as he has the legs to get there, we want to see him forecheck, play straight ahead, and get noticed that way.”

Before exiting the lineup, Allison had three goals and one assist in 14 games and was averaging 12 minutes, 31 seconds of ice time.

General manager Chuck Fletcher said that center Sean Couturier (back surgery) is doing “real well” and will resume skating in the next couple of weeks. Couturier, 30, had a second back surgery in nine months on Oct. 27. He was given a recovery timeline of three to four months, and Fletcher said his return to the lineup would be “probably closer to March.” ... Winger Bobby Brink (hip surgery) is set to see his surgeon on Dec. 22 and Fletcher is “hopeful that he’ll be fully cleared” at that appointment. Brink, 21, underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip in July and was given a five-month recovery timeline. ... Zack MacEwen (illness) and Max Willman (upper-body injury) participated in practice on Monday. Both MacEwen and Willman missed Saturday’s game.