Flyers’ Sean Couturier, Sam Ersson out vs. Senators due to injury

The Flyers (6-8-2) will be without two of their stalwarts Thursday night as captain Sean Couturier and starting goaltender Sam Ersson are both out for the team’s game in Ottawa against the Senators (8-7-0).

About two hours before puck drop, the Flyers announced that both players are day-to-day with lower-body injuries. Ersson did not participate in the team’s morning skate Thursday. A source confirmed to The Inquirer earlier in the day that Ersson was being held out after tweaking an injury at Wednesday’s practice. Ersson recently missed two games with a groin injury. Over his last six starts, the Swedish netminder is 4-0-1 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.

Ivan Fedotov will start Thursday and Aleksei Kolosov will serve as the backup. The Flyers’ next game is Saturday night at home against the Buffalo Sabres and Ersson’s availability for that contest is uncertain.

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Couturier’s injury was not known until the Flyers made the announcement and will immediately sound alarm bells with Flyers fans given his extensive injury history. The captain had sports hernia surgery “in his lower abs” during the summer, and before last season he had missed the previous season and a half after a pair of back surgeries.

The Flyers will hope that Couturier, who has served as the team’s top center of late, will not be out long. Couturier, who turns 32 next month, has three goals and eight points in 16 games this season. Morgan Frost, who has sat the last two games, will draw back into the lineup.