Noon Playoff Notes (Apr 18)

An accidental collision in practice has likely forced Philadelphia Flyers forward Sean Couturier from Game 4 of the team's series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Couturier collided with teammate Radko Gudas, knee-on-knee, which sent the centre flying awkwardly and forcing him from practice.  Things did not look good from video that had surfaced online, and the productive forward wasn't at the morning skate on Wednesday, likely signalling his absence from tonight's game.  The team wouldn't confirm his status, so if he does miss tonight's game, he will be listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

This doesn't matter too much in the pool, as the Flyers were not looked upon to make it out of this series alive by the 23 teams and Couturier wasn't taken at all.  This does possibly sway the favour of this series towards the Penguins though.

Hold the phone!  Let's not get too ahead of ourselves.  The Penguins have confirmed that they will be without forward Patric Hornqvist for Game 4 of this series, as he sustained an upper-body injury in Game 3 and wasn't out for practice on Tuesday either.  The team confirmed his absence for tonight right away and that does leave a pretty big hole in their lineup, as he has been fairly productive to start these playoffs, scoring a goal and adding 2 assists in the first three games.

Hornqvist has been taken seven times in the pool, so his absence will be felt in the standings, especially if the Penguins can light the lamp a bunch of times in Game 4.  Hornqvist is considered to be day-to-day with the injury, but who can really say what to expect going forward?