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Flyers must learn to win without Couturier

If the Flyers can't quickly figure out how to win without Sean Couturier, they will slip out of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Sean Couturier.
Sean Couturier.Read more(Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)

If the Flyers can't quickly figure out how to win without Sean Couturier, they will slip out of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

When Couturier was sidelined by an injured right foot/ankle last week, the Flyers' mantra was this: Everybody has to step up to replace the second-line center's minutes.

That hasn't happened.

The Flyers have lost their last three games without Couturier, falling farther behind in the wild-card race, and wasting some valuable games in hand on teams they are chasing.

"We just have to do a better job overall as a group," coach Dave Hakstol said, adding that Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Ducks "wasn't about one player. Anaheim came in and pushed and we weren't ready to meet that push and push back - not nearly early enough."

Couturier is a "big guy down the middle, and there aren't a lot of guys in the league like that," defenseman Mark Streit said. "... Everybody just needs to push a little harder."

Couturier's injury has shown the Flyers' glaring weakness: a lack of depth at forward. They have won just two of 12 games (2-8-2) Couturier has missed.

"It's a really small sample size," general manager Ron Hextall said.

Maybe. But the Flyers need to learn how to finish games - they blew leads in weekend losses to the Rangers and Washington - without Couturier, who is their best defensive forward.

"... He's a big part of our team; we all knew that," Hextall said. "Would we like him back tomorrow? Yeah. It would be terrific. But it's not going to happen, so we're going to go with what we've got. And we need to find ways to win games."

When Couturier is in the lineup, "it makes the matchups a little easier because he's so good defensively," winger Jake Voracek said. "Obviously we miss him, but it can't be an excuse. I mean, a lot of teams are missing a lot of key guys and they always find a way to win."

Couturier is expected to miss 10 more games, so the Flyers need young centers Scott Laughton and Nick Cousins to produce in his absence.

Hextall said the Flyers played well enough to win without Couturier in the narrow losses to the Rangers and best-in-the-NHL Capitals.

"We played damn good and probably deserved to win both those games," he said. "So we can win without Sean Couturier and we need to."

The Flyers are 21-12-7 with Couturier, who had 16 points in his last 16 games.

"You're not going to replace Couturier 100 percent without giving up a huge asset," Hextall said about a potential trade. "That's not going to happen. It's got to come from the group; it's got to come from within. If there's something out there, we would look at it. But I don't envision something along those lines coming at a reasonable price."

As for the rest of the season, the Flyers entered Wednesday six points out of a playoff spot, but unless their offense shows a dramatic turnaround, Hextall will be a seller and not a buyer at the Feb. 29 trade deadline.

Hextall said the Flyers "have some offensive skill that needs to show itself here."

The Flyers are 25th in the NHL, averaging just 2.35 goals per game. That is why Hextall will probably try to add a top-six forward in the off-season.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull www.philly.com/flyersblog