VOORHEES — Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is really in a bind now.

It was one thing for his team to go without its No. 2 center for three games. Now Sean Couturier will be out four weeks as he re-aggravated the same “lower-body injury” in Thursday night’s big win over the Nashville Predators.

“I think we all know it is a big loss for us,” Hextall said. “We’ve got other guys who are gonna fill in and pick up the slack. No one is gonna replace Coots. It’s got to be a group effort. I like the resiliency of our team. We got to continue with that.”

The Flyers recalled Nick Cousins from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to take Couturier’s roster spot as he is back on injured reserve.

Couturier, 23, has stepped into a bigger role after signing an extension last summer that will kick in next season. He's always been a defensive magician, usually tasked with shutting down opponent's top lines. He's also taken a step forward offensively. He has nine goals and 24 points in his first 40 games this season. His 0.6 point-per-game average is up from last year's 0.45. He's almost as tough to replace offensively as he is defensively.

(Listen to Flyers Radio Analyst Steve Coates)

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