PITTSBURGH -- When Sean Couturier saw the puck coming for his face back on Dec. 17, he didnt have time to think.
It was pure reaction.
I was kinda lucky in some ways, the Flyers rookie center recalled. The doctors said I had a good reflex there. I saw it coming, turned my head and braced my neck.
It could have hit me in the front and been a lot worse I was told.
Tonight against the Penguins, Couturier returns to the Flyers lineup after missing four games with a bruised head.
Couturier was struck by a shot from teammate Kimmo Timonen that afternoon against the Boston Bruins. Incredibly, instead of sustaining a concussion, the puck hit him above the left arm on his helmet, leaving him bruised and very sore with two stitches to close a wound.
When it happened, I didnt think about it being a concussion and I didnt feel too bad but it was still painful, he said.
NHL
What raised the alarms bells, however, was a ringing sensation in his left ear and lack of hearing that he said didnt seem to get better over the next several days.
At the start it was kinda scary, I couldnt really hear and it was hard understanding people, he said. They didnt know what was going on in there.
They told me the hearing would come back in time. The first couple days it wasnt getting better and that became scary.
He estimates his hearing now is 95 percent.
Im excited about coming back tonight, Couturier said. Well see how it goes, but Im ready to play.
With Couturier back, Zac Rinaldo will join Jody Shelley as a healthy scratch tonight.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net