Couturier hat trick lifts Flyers over Bruins

Sean Couturier had a hat trick, Carter Hart stopped 39 shots and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

Couturier scored twice within 90 seconds in the second period and sealed the win with his 19th goal late in the third for his first career regular-season hat trick (two came in the playoffs). He gave the Flyers hat tricks in consecutive games after James van Riemsdyk kicked it off in Monday’s win.

The Flyers entered in 30th place in the NHL and got a rare comeback victory in front of another sparse crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. The fans that showed up caught a slice of franchise history: Claude Giroux got his 500th career assist and joined Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke (852) as the only Flyers to hit that milestone.

Peter Cehlarik scored in his first game of the season and David Pastrnak scored in the first period to stake Boston to a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers didn’t even take their first shot until nearly 12 minutes into the game.

SENATORS 5, AVALANCHE 2: Matt Duchene scored twice in the third period against his former team as Ottawa beat Colorado. CANADIENS’ BYRON SUSPENDED THREE GAMES: Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron was suspended for three games without pay for charging Florida Panthers defenseman Mackenzie Weegar. The suspension will cost Byron $18,817.

NHL, NHLPA ABANDON WORLD CUP IN 2020: The NHL and NHL Players’ Association gave up on the possibility of staging the next World Cup of Hockey in September 2020 but will continue collective bargaining talks. The league and PA said there’s not enough time to put together a World Cup in roughly 20 months.