Reset.
That’s what Sean Couturier was planning to do during the NHL’s Olympic break.
The Flyers captain is also looking to reset — by doing again — how he plays away from the puck, defensively, and setting up his teammates, but reset — differently — his offensive production.
“Yeah, feels good to have a fresh mindset coming into the last stretch here,” he said. “Excited to get going here.”
Analytically, Couturier’s numbers are solid. According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, the Flyers have a 51.9% Corsi For percentage, 53.6% of the shots, 56.64% of the expected goal share, and 57.35% of the high-danger chances, when he is on the ice. His Corsi For percentage is No. 1 for Philly, while the rest range in the top two or three among players who have skated in at least 20 games.
The only issue? The Flyers have allowed three more goals (29 goals for, 32 against). It’s not egregious, but the number is compounded by the fact that Couturier hasn’t scored since Dec. 7. He has five goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, with nine assists and zero goals across his last 29.
“You know, before the break, I was just trying to simplify my game, go to the net, try to get a lucky bounce hit me off a shin pad, or my pants, or something, just get a dirty goal,” he said. “But bounces just seemed not to be going my way before the break.”
As someone who sits 71 games away from 1,000, Couturier has gone through this type of stretch before.
“I think you try to cut things down to not look at the big picture and try to have little goals in three-to-five-game segments, and [then] kind of always start with a fresh mindset after that,” he said after the Flyers’ fourth practice since returning Tuesday.
“… I think it’s just, mentally be sharper, be more [even] keel, I would say. Not too high, not too low, so that you manage to go through these struggles.”
Not to sound too cliché, but he’s pretty much taking it day by day. He’s getting chances, but he’s just snakebitten, as assistant coach Todd Reirden acknowledged on Saturday.
Couturier said he has to “get back to that mentality of shooting first and not always looking for a pass.” Working on re-finding his offensive touch, the 33-year-old forward did have the sixth-most shots on the team (54) since his last NHL goal against the Colorado Avalanche.
“I think it’s just to get my mindset more of just two-on ones, shoot when I can, not just look for passes,” he said. “I like to pass the puck. I like to create plays, but sometimes, you’ve got to simplify things, and I think if I have more of a shooting mentality, it’ll help out for sure putting the puck in the net.”
It should help that Couturier is back skating with Denver Barkey and Owen Tippett after centering the fourth line for the last four games before the break — with coach Rick Tocchet moving him up the lineup depending on the scenario. The trio had primarily been connected since Barkey was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League in late December, skating more than 140 minutes together.
When they were on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had a 56.32% Corsi For — with 69.09% of the high-danger chances — outshot opponents 62-47, had almost twice as many scoring chances (76-47), and 64.62 of the expected goal share. The only negative is that they were outscored 9-6.
Does Couturier, a Selke Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defensive forward in 2019-20, focus on defense to let them fly up the ice?
“I don’t know,” he said. “They’re two great offensive young players. So, yeah, I try to, maybe, balance things out on the defensive side and let them do their things offensively, letting them take a little more chances and, you know, back them up at times.
“But, honestly, I think it’s more on me to just be better, more involved in the play, timing-wise, when to be up the ice and when to be back under the play.”
Couturier may not be scoring, but he’s doing the little things that lead to goals, like his play on the wall or winning a faceoff — among forwards who had taken at least 90 draws, he led the Flyers in faceoff win percentage in the last 29 games (54.0%). And the captain, whose “voice carries a lot of weight,” according to Reirden, is a key penalty killer and can play on the power play.
Reirden has worked with some of the NHL’s best players, notably Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who the Flyers will see on Wednesday (7 p.m., NBCSP) when they restart the season. He draws back on working with players like that to help Couturier get through the difficult times, and he feels “a little different vibe from him than I did before the break.”
Maybe that’s because, as Couturier said, “It’s a new chapter to finish the year.”
Bronze Age
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and Finland captured the bronze medal with a 6-1 win against Slovakia at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
The 6-foot-4, 208-pound blueliner had an impressive tournament, popping on both sides of the puck. He entered the medal game with two assists and a plus-7 across five games. He had an assist on the sixth goal on Saturday and finished plus-9, tied for the top spot in the men’s tournament with one game left to be played.
“We know he’s a big, big body,” said former Dallas Stars forward Jere Lehtinen, who is Finland’s general manager, in a phone interview from Milan before the Olympics began. “He moves quick, a physical guy, and in the defensive zone it’s tough to play against him.
“But at the same time, he gets up to play and has a good shot. … So, the main thing is he brings us size and speed and physicality. And if you want to succeed as a team, you need those types of players in your defensive zone, [who] may play against the top players.”
Ristolainen, 31, skated for his country for the first time since the 2016 World Cup when it went 0-3-0, shut out by Sweden and Russia, and scored just one goal against Team North America. He was named to the 4 Nation’s Face-Off roster last February but was unable to play due to injury.
The bronze medal now goes along with the gold he won — literally — at the 2014 World Juniors. In overtime, the physical defenseman hopped over the boards, carried the puck around Sweden’s Robert Hägg — the Flyers’ 2013 second-round pick — cut across the crease, and tucked in the golden goal. His game-winner gave Finland its first World Junior medal since 2006 and first gold since 1998.
“Obviously, it was a big one, and, you know, sometimes I used to make plays and play a little offense,” he said with a chuckle.
Saturday’s bronze is Finland’s eighth medal at the Olympics in men’s hockey. Its lone gold came at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, with Slovakia winning bronze that year.
Breakaways
Defenseman Adam Ginning and goalie Aleksei Kolosov were recalled from Lehigh Valley on Saturday. … The gold medal game will be played on Sunday with Tocchet, defenseman Travis Sanheim and Canada facing the United States and former Flyers coach John Tortorella (8 a.m., NBC, Peacock).
