Couture has surgery; return is uncertain
Sharks forward Logan Couture underwent surgery on his injured hand Wednesday, but the team wouldn’t speculate as to when the 24-year-old might return to action.
“Logan underwent successful surgery (Wednesday) by team orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting, and is expected to make a full recovery,” general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. “He will be starting his rehabilitation immediately and we look forward to getting him back in our lineup. No specific return date is set at this time.”
Couture, who was the Sharks’ fourth-leading scorer with 35 points (14 goals and 21 assists in 43 games), suffered the injury some time within the last month but continued to play despite dealing with numbness during games.
After going 11 consecutive games without a goal, Couture recently scored in four straight. That streak was snapped Sunday in Chicago, but he had an assist and the shootout winner in the game.
Flyers 3, Canadiens 1: Sean Couturier, Zac Rinaldo and Michael Raffl scored to lead Philadelphia to its 10th straight home victory. … The Flyers returned home after a 5-1 trip that sent them to fourth in the Eastern Conference. Brushing off 1-7 and 4-10-1 starts to become one of the hottest teams in the NHL, they are 9-2 since Dec. 17 and have found new life under coach Craig Berube. … The Flyers haven’t lost at home since Nov. 7 against New Jersey. They’re on their longest home winning streak since
they won 11 straight Oct. 27-Dec. 5, 2003. … Steve Mason made 19 saves for his 18th win.
Rangers 3, Blackhawks 2: Carl Hagelin scored a tiebreaking goal in the third period as New York won in Chicago for the first time since Jan. 16, 2009. … The Rangers improved to 6-2-1 in their past nine games. … The regulation loss was the Blackhawks’ first at home since Dec. 3.
Avalanche 4, Senators 3: Tyson Barrie’s goal 33 seconds into overtime lifted Colorado past visiting Ottawa. … The Avalanche forced the extra period when Paul Stastny scored with 2:20 remaining in the third period. … Clarke MacArthur had a goal and assist for the Senators, who had erased a 2-0 deficit before Stastny’s goal.