‘Banged-up’ center Sean Couturier misses Flyers’ practice with undisclosed injury

Sean Couturier was not on the ice for the Flyers’ open practice at Wells Fargo Center on Monday morning.

Flyers coach John Tortorella would not disclose the nature of the injury and said he wasn’t sure whether it would be a long-term issue. Tortorella said the veteran center was “banged up,” and that the issue was not related to the back injury that sidelined Couturier for the entirety of last season.

“You know I’m not going give you the information, right? So you’re wasting time asking those questions,” Tortorella said when pressed to elaborate.

Through the Flyers’ first two games of the season, Couturier averaged 20 minutes, 19 seconds on the ice and recorded one assist. Couturier started both games centering the top line, with Joel Farabee on the left wing and Bobby Brink on the right against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tyson Foerster swapped in for Brink against the Ottawa Senators.

In Couturier’s absence, the lines the Flyers ran at Monday’s practice were:

If Couturier sits out Tuesday’s home opener against the Vancouver Canucks, that will mean some shuffling with the Flyers’ penalty-killing units. The Senators converted on three out of five opportunities with the extra man on Saturday, although the Flyers completely shut down the Blue Jackets’ power play in the opener. Couturier has so far logged 2:33 per game on the penalty kill.

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Couturier has also a been a fixture on the power play, although the unit probably could benefit from some shuffling. The Flyers are 1-for-9 (11.1%) so far with the man advantage this season.

“As I said after the [Ottawa] game, we didn’t play well in any of the facets of that game there. So hopefully we can rebound here [Tuesday],” Tortorella said.

Rasmus Ristolainen, who is on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, was not a participant in Monday’s open practice. The defenseman was on the ice before practice began, working out by himself with coaches on conditioning drills.

Ristolainen sat out the Flyers’ first two games, although he did join the team on the road. His return from IR will require the Flyers to clear a roster spot for him. The Flyers are carrying three goalies and have already announced Samuel Errson has the backup job to Carter Hart, so it’s likely the corresponding move will be to waive Felix Sandström.

Monday’s practice at the Wells Fargo Center was open to fans, a precursor to the home opener. The starting time Tuesday has been moved up to 6 p.m. to account for traffic concerns stemming from Game 2 of the NL Championship Series, as well as the Mexico-Germany men’s soccer match at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Flyers raised their sticks to salute the crowd of spectators at the conclusion of practice.

“Just to have them support us throughout all the stuff that’s going on this week, it’s pretty cool and awesome to see them come out and watch us practice,” Scott Laughton said. “I think to be a good team, you got to be a really good home team. And that’s what we want to do here on home ice. I think it’s a pretty tough building to play in when you ask other people that come into here, so I think we’re excited for a clean slate here and to get going.”