Sean Couturier scores in long-awaited return to Wells Fargo Center as Flyers roll Canucks

Sean Couturier isn’t built the same way he was when he was a 26-year-old pro, a budding superstar on a team that wanted to win.

Load management probably wasn’t a phrase he thought about very often. He’s a hockey player, of course, a two-way center who wanted to compete for Selke trophies on a yearly basis.

Couturier acknowledged Tuesday afternoon that he has a new reality. The Flyers center missed practice Monday, too banged up after two road games to get on the ice ahead of Tuesday’s home opener vs. Vancouver, Couturier’s first home opener in two seasons — his first home game since Dec. 18, 2021.

Load management. A day off. Banged up. Whatever wording you want to use, it clearly paid dividends for Couturier, who nearly assisted on a goal on his first shift and then scored a highlight-reel goal on a penalty shot during the Flyers’ 2-0 win Tuesday against the Canucks.

Couturier came in slow, shifted into reverse, pulled it back to his forehand and scored.

“In the last two years, I’ve had too much time to think about it and work on it,” Couturier joked. “I’m glad it worked.”

Before the game, Couturier talked about his day-to-day experience now involving balancing soreness — this was unrelated to his previous injury, he said — and worrying about his twice-repaired back.

“It might just be that, too,” Couturier said. “I’m 30 now, not in my 20s anymore. Maybe that’s what it is. It’s been a while.”

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To be clear, this isn’t a new career phase Couturier loves.

“That’s kind of what I miss the most about the game, going through that grind and here I am in game three [coming off a day off],” he said.

The Flyers are 2-1-0 and knocked off a Vancouver team that came to Philadelphia having twice dispatched an Edmonton club with Stanley Cup aspirations.

For a rebuilding Flyers team, there will be good nights. There will be bad nights. For Couturier and the Flyers, this one qualified as a good one.

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The Flyers opened their home schedule on the same night two events across the parking lot in stadiums with more than double the capacity were set to take place — one of them a Phillies championship series playoff game.

It showed. There were plenty of open seats inside the Wells Fargo Center, many fans likely not wanting to deal with the traffic, and especially not for a team that’s publicly rebuilding.

One of the loudest cheers in the first period came when the Flyers played a message on the video board wishing the Phillies luck.

Some dominant play in the second period, and extracurricular pushing and shoving in the third period later brought the home crowd to life.

The camera flashed to Morgan Frost during introductions, and the young center did not look thrilled. He was wearing a suit instead of his hockey equipment, a healthy scratch during the home opener after being fourth on the team in scoring last season.

Flyers coach John Tortorella has made it clear that the daily lineup is in flux, and the Flyers deployed their third different lineup in three games.

“Other guys are playing better,” Tortorella said. “There’s not too much science to my thinking as far as lineups.”

Tortorella said he would be talking to Frost about the decision Wednesday.

“I texted him,” the coach said. “I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”

Carter Hart made 25 saves during his sixth career shutout. ... Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula opened the scoring with his first NHL goal, a patient and perfect wrist shot that beat Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko less than two minutes into the game. ... Vancouver had a goal called back for goaltender interference in a 2-0 game 3 minutes, 26 seconds into the third period. ... The Flyers completely dominated the second period, outshooting Vancouver, 23-2, over the 20 minutes. ... The Flyers host Edmonton and Connor McDavid at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.