New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) falls to the ice after getting a stick to the face during the first period of a first-round NHL playoff hockey game against the New York Rangers in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 13, 2016.Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press
The Philadelphia Flyers will have to try to mount a comeback against the Washington Capitals without one of their best players. The New York Rangers are optimistic they will have their franchise player back for a rally against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers announced Friday that centre Sean Couturier will miss the rest of the first round because of an upper-body injury. And Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said he hopes to be back on the ice for Game 2 on Saturday after taking a teammate's stick to the eye Wednesday but avoiding what could have been a catastrophic injury.
Injuries have already had a major impact on the two Metropolitan Division series. The Penguins were without their top goaltenders, Marc-André Fleury and Matt Murray, for Game 1. Fleury, who has been out with a concussion, said he didn't expect to return Saturday, which would mean another start for No. 3 goalie Jeff Zatkoff, who made 35 saves in his playoff debut.
New York will be without defenceman Dan Girardi because of an undisclosed injury, while Pittsburgh appears closer to getting centre Evgeni Malkin back. Malkin practised Friday, and his presence would be a major boost for the Penguins.
"Anybody who's injured and starting to practice with the team, it's encouraging," captain Sidney Crosby said. "He looks really strong. It's only a matter of time here."
The Flyers said Couturier is expected to be out for two weeks and they will miss his penalty-killing, faceoff abilities and overall defensive prowess against skill-heavy Washington.
"Coots is our defensive anchor out there," Flyers defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere said. "We're going to miss him, but it's the next-guy-in-line sort of mentality."
Brayden Schenn will likely slide into the second-line centre spot and 21-year-old Scott Laughton will get into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for nine of the past 11 games. Neither player brings the same all-around game of Couturier, whose departure from Game 1 coincided with the Capitals taking over.
"It probably didn't hurt because I know Sean is a quality hockey player and relied on by the Flyers to be sort of their stopper guy," Washington coach Barry Trotz said. "Couturier's an important part of what they do."
Effort isn't a question and neither is intensity, especially after a physical start to the series that included a big hit by the Capitals' Tom Wilson on Andrew MacDonald and an ensuing fight with Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds. The big question is how Simmonds might respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.
"He's the X-factor for them," Wilson said. "I hope I didn't wake him up there. He's obviously going to be coming out in Game 2 flying like the rest of their team."
In Dallas, where the Stars lead the Minnesota Wild 1-0, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff wasn't saying Friday whether he'd go back to goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who had a hot hand in Game 1, or start Antti Niemi in Game 2 on Saturday. It sure seems as if he has a fairly easy decision after Lehtonen stopped 22 shots against Minnesota for his second career playoff shutout.
"He didn't make any mistakes," Ruff said after the 4-0 win for the top-seeded Stars. "He played a real great game for us."
Stars centre Tyler Seguin appears to be on pace to return from an Achilles injury that has sidelined him since mid-March. Ruff said there was "no comparison" between how Seguin looked Friday from where he was earlier in the week, a great sign for Dallas.