Couturier holding out hope for victory

Center not ruling himself out for Game 5 Friday in Pittsburgh

VOORHEES, N.J. » Ignoring the obvious, the Flyers have chosen to believe they can turn it all around and knock the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoffs.

Perhaps bolstering their previously thin band of confidence was a verbal leap of faith by Sean Couturier, who Thursday said he’s at least holding out some hope that he can play Friday night in Pittsburgh, when the Flyers try to avoid elimination in Game 5 at PPG Paints Arena.

“It’s day to day,” Couturier dutifully reported about the “lower body” ... well, probable right knee problem ... that kept him out of Game 4. He said he was not ruling himself out for this fifth game of a series so far dominated by Sidney Crosby and his merry band of two-time defending champions.

They’re not only much better than the Flyers, they haven’t had near the amount of problems their cross-state peasants have run across. Couturier, for example, was injured when he collided with Radko Gudas in practice Tuesday.

“Feeling better every day,” Couturier said. “We’ll see tomorrow how I feel . ... Like I said, day to day. I’m not going to say how close I am or how far I am (from returning). It’s really on me, seeing how I feel every day and hopefully it keeps getting better.”

When the collision occurred, Couturier threw his stick in anger, leading to speculation he thought it was a significant injury. Given 48 hours to stew, feel and heal, he was obviously feeling better about his chances.

“It was just the way it happened,” he said. “It was more frustration than anything at that time.”

But he emphasized he wasn’t laying any blame with Gudas ... who did not get hurt.