To the dismay of many fans, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier played left wing for the first time in his 13-year NHL career in the team’s 3-0 home opener loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Couturier also started the game for the Flyers, albeit on the fourth line with Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway.
As far as Couturier is concerned, he is just doing what the coaches ask of him. Regardless of whether he disagrees with a position change, it sets a good example for the younger players looking up to Couturier, who played his 800th NHL regular season game under these circumstances.
From a tactical perspective, though, Flyers head coach John Tortorella had his reasons for trying his captain in a new role.
“Sean, just like everybody else, has been up-and-down,” Tortorella began to explain. “I actually thought his best minutes – more involved – was playing on the wing. Had him on a checking line.
“We were going to use him against (J.T. Miller’s) line a little bit here and there. I actually liked him there. I’m not sure what the lineup is going to be tomorrow. I really don’t know.”
Although his decision ultimately was not reflected by the 3-0 final score, Tortorella really did get the best of Couturier on the left wing, as much as Flyers fans may feel inclined to disagree with the move.
Couturier played heavy 5-on-5 minutes against both Miller and Elias Pettersson, and while Pettersson won his minutes against the Flyers captain, Couturier got the best of just about everybody else.
In 4:28 against Miller specifically, the Flyers had four shot attempts with Couturier on the ice and allowed only two. Scoring chances were 2-1 in favor of the hosts, and high-danger chances were 1-0, per Natural Stat Trick.
The reason the Flyers lost to the Canucks and were shut out at home has nothing to do with Sean Couturier or how he played, especially considering the assignments he was given.
Instead, Saturday’s home opener was the only one of the Flyers’ five games where they had more scoring chances than their opponents (25-18). It was also the only one where they failed to score a single goal.
Couturier did have a few close-range chances in his debut as a winger, but the 31-year-old has never been an efficient finisher in front of goal. He’s not going to suddenly become one, either.
At the end of the day, Couturier played a season-high 15:58 in the 3-0 loss to Vancouver, which should put to rest the notion that Tortorella has any kind of personal vendetta against the captain he chose.
Especially after the tactical move to shift Couturier to the left wing nearly worked to perfection.
