'He's Not Allowed to Have a Bad Night': Sean Couturier Got an Earful From John Tortorella Before Taking the Game into His Own Hands
The Philadelphia Flyers head coach had to spur on one of his best players to rise to the occasion.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - 'He's Not Allowed to Have a Bad Night': Sean Couturier Got an Earful From John Tortorella Before Taking the Game into His Own HandsJohn Tortorella wasn't happy after the Flyers' 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 8. Neither were his players. The dissatisfaction was palpable, so much so that none of the coaches talked to the players about what went wrong. That's the way their head coach wanted it.
"I haven't spoken one word to them about the game, haven't shown them one clip of the game," Tortorella said at morning skate on Feb. 10. "We trust them. We know how they felt about [the loss]."
The exercise in accountability and having the locker room police itself seemed to work out beautifully. The Flyers played a much more complete game against the Seattle Kraken, coming away with a 3-2 victory. It wasn't without its faults—no game is—but Sean Couturier in particular showcased the exact mindset and attitude Tortorella has been demanding from his players all season, and showed exactly why it's the right formula to carry them in what Scott Laughton called "a sprint to the finish line."
The Kraken were able to tie the game twice, with their second goal coming just after the start of the third period. A shot from Jarden McCann's deflected off of Couturier's stick and past goalie Cal Petersen, making for a serious spike in nerves for the last 20 minutes of the game.
Unsurprisingly, Couturier received "an earful" from Tortorella after McCann's goal. What words were exchanged, Couturier insisted, "You don't want to know!"
Whatever it was, it worked. Couturier was able to pull the Flyers ahead once more with what would end up being the game-winning goal.
It was a great way to redeem himself, but Couturier was the first to take responsibility for allowing the Kraken back in the game at all.
"I feel both goals were kind of my guy," he said. "I got a little too excited on the first one...it was a bad judgement call, then my guy scores. The second one, same thing, it was kind of at my feet. I feel all night it was one of those games for me personally where...it was just kind of in my feet, fighting it a little bit. I'm just glad I could get that one back in the third."
Tortorella spoke extensively about Couturier's goal and his impact on the team in his post-game press conference, starting by acknowledging the likely motivation for Couturier's emphatic goal celebration.
"Oh, that was an 'eff you!' to me, yeah," he laughed, brandishing his middle finger as he said it. "I'm sure it was. So be it. That's part of it. That's what I like about him. He's a crusty old pro. He's a huge part of this."
So huge that the Flyers' head coach made it clear that he didn't give Couturier that earful for the sake of it.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and how he's handled this year after taking two years off," he said. "But there are no free passes. We need him terribly, in games, to be consistent. He's not allowed to have a bad night or take a night off. He's not allowed. We're just not good enough for him to be average."