Philadelphia Flyers’ best forward of the playoffs, Sean Couturier was playing with a torn MCL and scored a hat trick in Game 6.
At the end of every playoff series, there is a loser and a winner. Sunday afternoon the Flyers found themselves on the on the losing side of their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After the series ends it is not uncommon to find out that certain players have played through injury to help their team win.
This series it was Flyers forward Sean Couturier who played through a major injury to help his team.
Shortly after the Flyers got eliminated Couturier told reporters he was playing with a torn MCL. He suffered the injury in practice after colliding with his teammate Radko Gudas. This injury would normally sideline a player for as long as a month.
#BREAKING Our @6abc video of @NHLFlyers star Sean Couturier going DOWN at practice today after colliding with Radko Gudas. He limps off with the trainer. Claude Giroux told me "it didn't look good." So far no update from the #Flyers #NHLPlayoffs2018 #EarnTomorrow pic.twitter.com/SlfplFKjUd
— Jamie Apody (@JamieApody) April 17, 2018
The forward had to miss Game 4 because of the injury and the Flyers lost by five. Couturier was able to return for Game 5 and he made a major impact by scoring the game-winning goal to extend the series.
That three-goal, five-point effort by Sean Couturier today was one for the ages. Fact he did it on an MCL injury that would normally keep him out four weeks, absolutely incredible. PHI loss shouldn’t diminish magnitude of the accomplishment. Add it to Stanley Cup playoff lore.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) April 22, 2018
This is where the story gets even more interesting. In the elimination game, Couturier showed up in a big way. He recorded a hat trick, added two assists as the Flyers’ best player for the entire game. Unfortunately, it came in a losing effort as the Flyers were eliminated despite his heroics.
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Couturier’s playoffs ended with nine points in five games. This is the capper on a great regular season that saw him record 76 points in 82 games. For much of the season, he was the top player on the team and a major reason they even made the playoffs. His great season did not go unnoticed throughout the league as he got nominated as a finalist for the Selke Trophy as one of the top defensive forwards in the league.
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