PHILADELPHIA -- Hockey runs in Nolan Patrick's blood. The 19-year-old is a thoroughbred. His father, Steve Patrick, and his uncle, James Patrick, both played in the NHL.
Since his early teens growing up in Winnipeg, great expectations have always been heaped upon Nolan. If not for injuries sustained playing junior in the rough-and-tumble Western League, there was a strong chance that Nolan Patrick, not Nico Hischier, would have been the first overall pick in last summer's NHL Entry Draft.
Not that the Flyers are complaining about that.
They claimed Patrick at No. 2 overall, and haven't been the least disappointed. Though he did miss nine games in the fall with a concussion, Patrick still managed to produce 30 points (13 goals and 17 assists) in the regular season. Though not as flashy as fellow rookies Mathew Barzal, Clayton Keller or Brock Boeser, Patrick plays an honest, two-way game.
That description sounds a lot like ... Sean Couturier.
"He’s an unbelievable player, one of the best two-way players I’ve ever seen," Patrick was saying of his Flyers teammate after Wednesday's morning skate. "The amount of ice he gets, he never looks tired our there. We use him in every situation. He thrives in every situation they put him in."
Oh, and that is the player that Patrick is likely to replace tonight when the Flyers host the Penguins in a critical Game 4 at the Wells Fargo Center. No pressure, kid.
"It doesn’t change anything for me," the fresh-faced Patrick was saying. "I’m going to play the same way."
Technically, Couturier's status is to be determined. During his press conference, Dave Hakstol was asked about his top-line center's status three different ways and blocked each one far better than Brian Elliott could ever hope.
"Look, it's not about any one player here," Hakstol said. "You go through playoffs, you go through a season, injuries are part of it. We deal with them all the time. So we’ll make good decisions tonight at game time and we’ll be ready and prepared regardless of what the lineup is. You can’t center it around one or two players."
But if you are Hakstol, you're not planning on Couturier. Not after this collision in practice:
#BREAKING Our @6abc video of @NHLFlyers star Sean Couturier going DOWN at practice today after colliding with Radko Gudas. He limps off with the trainer. Claude Giroux told me "it didn't look good." So far no update from the #Flyers #NHLPlayoffs2018 #EarnTomorrow pic.twitter.com/SlfplFKjUd
— Jamie Apody (@JamieApody) April 17, 2018
Assuming that Couturier is out -- he did not step on the ice for Wednesday's skate -- Patrick will center a line with captain Claude Giroux on his left and Jakub Voracek on his right. Giroux and Voracek, Philly's two-leading scorers, were reunited on a line in practice Tuesday in a desperate measure to get the Flyers back in the series. Pittsburgh has outscored the Flyers 13-6, with five of the Flyers' goals coming in their Game 2 win.
Hakstol wouldn't say this is a "must-win" game for the Flyers but: "It’s the biggest game of the series to this point. Let’s be real clear about that."
"It's Game 4 in our building, it’s an opportunity to bring this series back to even," he said. "Our pure focus is on that short-term opportunity which is the game today."
The only other expected lineup change that Hakstol -- in a roundabout way -- would confirm is that Jordan Weal would draw in place of Oskar Lindblom.
Weal has been in and out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, recording 21 points in 69 games. But he did have a three-point game against the Penguins on March 25, scoring a goal and a pair of assists. Despite his smallish size, Weal (5-foot-10, 179 pounds) does his best work down low, an area where the Flyers believe they can improve.
"I think in a series like this you have to wear teams down and we’re really good at protecting pucks low and making plays toward the net," Weal said.
