Sean Couturier's (leg) availability will be determined at game time on Sunday It looks like the odds are in favor of Couturier playing, but nothing has been decided. He has three goals and four points in nine playoff games. He's also averaged 15:24 minutes of ice time in the playoffs and has been a great shutdown center.

It is not known whether Sean Couturier (leg) will be in the Flyer lineup Sunday against the Devils for Game 4 of their quarter-final series. He has not skated since he left the ice in Thursday's game and it is likely, but not certain, he will not be able to suit up Sunday. Couturier's availability may come down to a game-time decision.

There's a chance Flyers center Sean Couturier will return to the lineup for Sunday's playoff game in New Jersey, and Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren - who guards injury reports as if they are state secrets - did not rule out the possibility that defenseman Andrej Meszaros would play. Couturier injured his leg in the first period of Philly's 4-3 overtime loss to New Jersey on Thursday night, and he is officially listed as day-to-day. Without Couturier anchoring the Flyers' checking line, New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk erupted for a goal and two assists to key the Devils' win. Meszaros has not played since March 1. When he underwent back surgery March 21, Holmgren said he would be sidelined six to eight weeks. Sunday will be six weeks and four days since the surgery. Meszaros has been skating with the team in practice the past couple of days.

Sean Couturier left the Flyers' Game 3 with the Devils in the first period with a lower-body injury. Couturier played 3:59 before leaving with what the team is calling a lower-body injury in the first period. It has been reported that he sustained a cut. The youngster has three goals and an assist in the playoffs.

Don't be surprised to see the Flyers' Sean Couturier shadowing the Devils' Ilya Kovalchuk during their second round series. Couturier and his linemates, Max Talbot and Eric Wellwood, did an excellent job of neutralizing Evgeni Malkin in the first round and they will likely draw a similar assignment against Kovalchuk in the second.

Rookie Sean Couturier has done an outstanding job of shutting down Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin in the first round of the postseason. The two have been matched up against each other throughout the series and Couturier has gotten the better of Malkin in all three games heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night. Both players have registered four points but Couturier has four goals to Malkin's none and the first-year NHLer has a plus-3 rating, while the league's Art Ross Trophy winner owns a minus-4 rating.

The Philadelphia Flyers, remarkably, have a 2-0 lead over the favored Pittsburgh Penguins in their opening-round playoff series, and it's largely because of the two-way play of usually unheralded forward Sean Couturier. Couturier scored three goals in the Flyers' stunning 8-5 win in Pittsburgh Friday night. Even more impressive is the fact that he is leading the Pens' Evgeni Malkin, the National Hockey League's top scorer, in points. Couturier has been shadowing Malkin in the series. "If he wouldn't score any goals, I would say he would have a great game," future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr said of the Flyers' rookie. "He played great defense and also scored three goals (Friday night). I don't know if I could find the words to describe his game. Awesome, maybe, but he was something better than that."

Sean Couturier is projected to be tasked with shutting down the NHL's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, in the opening round of the playoffs. That will certainly be no easy feat, but if the 19-year-old can get under Malkin's skin then it might make his job easier. Still, it will be tough to get the gifted Russian to stop scoring even if he is agitated for most of the series because everything went his way during the regular season. Couturier was a pleasant surprise for the Flyers in 2011-12. The rookie notched 13 goals, 14 assists and a plus-18 rating, which was the second best on the team, in 77 games.

Sean Couturier returned to action on Saturday February 25.

Sean Couturier (lower body) is probable for Saturday's game. Couturier thinks he could have played on Thursday, but he was scratched for precautionary reasons. He has 10 goals and 21 points in 55 contests in 2011-12.