Sean Couturier, Flyers’ invaluable center, injured early in game against Penguins

Center Sean Couturier left Friday night’s game early in the first period after he was checked into the boards against Pittsburgh.

Couturier, the Flyers’ MVP the last two seasons, appeared to injure one of his shoulders. His right shoulder hit the boards, and he was checked by Jared McCann on the left shoulder. Couturier sprained the left shoulder in the 2016 playoffs against Washington, absorbing a big hit from Alex Ovechkin. He was bothered by a strained shoulder early last season.

Without Couturier, the Flyers rotated several centers on the top line in the opening period, and, at one point, left winger Claude Giroux was shifted to center on that unit.

Because of the injury, Jake Voracek moved to the top power-play unit, and Oskar Lindblom was added to the second unit.

Voracek set up Travis Konecny for a power-play goal to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead. Voracek had two first-period assists to pass Mark Recchi for fifth place on the Flyers’ all-time list.

After the game, coach Alain Vigneault said Couturier would have an MRI on his shoulder Saturday. He played just two shifts covering a total of 45 seconds Friday.

Couturier won the Selke Trophy last season as the NHL’s top defensive forward.

Vigneault liked what he saw of his team’s new first pairing – defensemen Ivan Provorov and Justin Braun – in the Flyers’ season-opening 6-3 win over the Penguins.

“I thought they played well. Not easy matchups,” the Flyers’ coach said before the teams had a rematch Friday at the Wells Fargo Center.

The pairing was usually matched against a line centered by Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

“They played some important minutes,” Vigneault said. “In the offensive zone, I’m sure you guys noticed we sent Erik [Gustafsson] out there for a couple of faceoffs with Provy. So, there will be a couple of combinations of different players.”

Vigneault said for the time being, he likes having Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers together on the second pairing. They have chemistry, having been a duo last season.

“It is a big pair – mobility, size, good stick, good reach,” Vigneault said.

The veteran coach called Braun “a smart guy. He plays the game the right way. He plays the game hard and I think with Provy right now, we’ve got three pairs we can pretty much trust.”

The third pair, is composed of Swedes Robert Hagg and Gustafsson.

Braun, 33, has replaced Matt Niskanen, who surprisingly retired after last season. Provorov, who turned 24 on Wednesday, had a superb season with Niskanen as his partner.

With their appearances in Friday’s game, Provorov and Giroux tied John LeClair for the second-longest consecutive game streaks in team history at 317. The three players sit behind only Rod Brind’Amour’s franchise record of 484 games.

Provorov’s streak is already a franchise record for the longest from the start of a career.

The Flyers host Buffalo on Monday and Tuesday, and backup goalie Brian Elliott is expected to get one of the starts. ... This is the first season since 2007-08 that the Flyers and Penguins will meet eight times. The teams won’t meet again until March 2, when they start a two-game series in Pittsburgh.