Just seconds after Phillip Danault buried an empty-netter to cement the Habs' 5-3 victory, Couturier levelled an unsuspecting Artturi Lehkonen away from the play.
The Canadiens took exception to the hit, and a subsequent melee ensued.
Couturier was assessed a game misconduct and a two-minute minor for cross-checking. Flyers forward Jakub Voracek and Canadiens captain Shea Weber were also handed a game misconduct for their roles in the dustup.
Montreal staved off elimination with the win. The Flyers will get another chance to advance in Game 6 on Friday.
Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri is putting his poor playoff history behind him as he continues to shine this summer.
Kadri was suspended in each of the previous two postseasons while with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the 29-year-old believes he's turned a corner.
"Just reflecting on the time I spent in Toronto ... you want to learn from your mistakes," Kadri said following the Avalanche's 7-1 series-clinching win over the Arizona Coyotes, according to Colorado Hockey Now's Scott MacDonald.
"I'm more valuable on the ice than I am in the penalty box or the press box," he said, per NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger.
With his second straight two-goal game on Wednesday, Kadri paces Colorado with six tallies this postseason. The dynamic pivot had mustered 10 career playoff points prior to 2019-20, and has already racked up 11 in eight games this summer.
Acquired by the Avalanche last offseason, Kadri said he's grateful for the seamless transition after spending the previous 10 seasons with the Maple Leafs.
"I'm just fortunate and lucky to come into such a great dressing room with such great teammates and a great organization that just gave me a chance to be who I can be," he said, per MacDonald.
"They've believed in me since I stepped in the door. I'm just trying to not let them down."
Kadri will now play beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Sanheim, who ranks third among Flyers players in average ice time per game this postseason (19:56), remained in the contest despite being shaken up on the play.
Philadelphia converted twice on the ensuing power play with a pair of goals from Jakub Voracek.
The Flyers own a 3-1 series lead over Montreal and will advance to the second round with a win Wednesday.
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella wasn't interested in finding the silver lining after his club was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday.
"You know what, guys? I'm not going to get into the touchy-feely stuff and the moral victories and all that," Tortorella said before cutting his postgame press conference short after two questions.
He added: "You guys be safe."
The Blue Jackets fell behind 2-0 early in their must-win game but rallied back with four unanswered goals. Their lead was short-lived, though, as the Tampa Bay Lightning scored twice in the third period before Brayden Point ended the series in overtime.
Columbus played its most complete game of the first round but wasn't able to find a way to win. The Blue Jackets recorded 53.6% of the shot attempts, 61.54% of the scoring chances, and 65.12% of the expected goals at five-on-five Wednesday, according to Natural Stat Trick.
This is the second instance Tortorella has been particularly blunt during the 2020 postseason. Columbus' coach repeatedly answered, "Toronto was really good. We sucked," when asked to dissect what went wrong in the club's Game 2 qualifying-round loss to the Maple Leafs.
Tortorella has been the Blue Jackets' head coach since 2015-16 and has led the team to the playoffs in each of the past four seasons. He's currently a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.
Pastrnak has been sidelined since Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. He racked up a goal and an assist in his only appearance of the series.
The 24-year-old winger was tied for the league lead in goals with 48 when the regular season was shut down in March, and he had already established a new career high with 95 points.
Boston holds a 3-1 series lead over Carolina and can advance to Round 2 with a win.
The goaltender, whom the Blackhawks traded to the Golden Knights at the deadline, expressed appreciation for his former club following Vegas' 4-3 win over Chicago on Tuesday night. The victory ended their first-round matchup in five games.
"This was a huge win for our team, it felt really nice for me to close this out, because it's a bit weird playing your old team, especially that group," Lehner told reporters postgame. "That group is a hell of a group. They treated me really well. (I've) got a lot of friends on that team and (nothing) but love for that organization, but (it was a) huge win for us and I thought it was a really good series for us to move forward here."
Lehner appeared emotional as he embraced his former teammates in the handshake line.
Cool to see Robin Lehner embrace all his former Blackhawks teammates in the handshake line pic.twitter.com/UyMMpak1xO
Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer, who was standing right behind Lehner in line, said afterward he could tell how much of an impact the goalie had on his former squad.
"Some of the comments to him really were filled with respect and admiration for his journey and where he's going and what he's been through," the bench boss told reporters. "You can tell when an ex-teammate is talking to guys he played with whether it's genuine or not, and it was genuine across the board there.
"He made a real impression on those guys, I think, even though he was only there for less than a year."
Lehner revealed in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had overcome substance abuse.
The 29-year-old played 33 regular-season games with the Blackhawks, who signed him as a free agent last July. Lehner went 16-10-5 with Chicago in 2019-20, posting a .918 save percentage and 10.17 goals saved above average.
The Blackhawks dealt Lehner to the Golden Knights in late February, receiving netminder Malcolm Subban, defensive prospect Stanislav Demin, and a second-round pick in return.
Several games into what's usually the opening round of the playoffs, we have an atypically advanced sense of which positional units - a club's forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders, as well its special-teams contingents - have moved the needle in this expanded postseason.
Five groups have really impressed the past few weeks, stretching back to the start of the play-in stage and each conference's round robin. Here's a rundown of who they are and what they've done so far to thrive in the bubble.
Vancouver's power play
J.T. Miller celebrates one of his power-play goals against St. Louis. Andy Devlin / NHL / Getty Images
One fruitless night against St. Louis doesn't undermine the success this group has enjoyed on the whole. If anything, the Canucks' quiet Game 4 accentuated how good their power play has been.
This is the roster segment that's, well, powered the Canucks to five playoff wins, and that has them as close as the defending champs to moving ahead. Vancouver's 10 goals with the man advantage lead the postseason.
Aesthetically, the Canucks' primary unit - Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and Quinn Hughes - has looked dynamite much of the time it's skated together. It was fluid, cohesive, and ruthless in Game 1 against the Blues, when Miller and Boeser toyed with St. Louis by trading cross-ice passes ahead of a goal; in Game 2, when Pettersson's pinpoint saucer pass set up occasional contributor Tanner Pearson in the slot; and in Game 3, when Pettersson's pinpoint stretch pass sprung Miller to beat Jake Allen top-shelf. The list goes on.
Save for Horvat, every Vancouver star has done most of his feasting on the power play. The situation has produced seven of Pettersson's nine points, six of Hughes' nine, six of Miller's eight, and five of Boeser's seven. Overall, the Canucks are scoring at a 27% clip - higher than their 24.2% mark from the regular season, which ranked fourth in the NHL, but well within the realm of sustainability the rest of the way against St. Louis.
Realistically, the power play probably needs to keep clicking for the Canucks to advance. They've scored a mere five goals and managed 39.9% of shot attempts at even strength, per Natural Stat Trick, in the series. Less heralded players have helped Vancouver compensate: Antoine Roussel and Troy Stecher have each drawn a team-high three penalties.
Calgary's penalty kill
Tobias Rieder celebrates one of his shorthanded goals against Dallas. Dave Sandford / NHL / Getty Images
Among fans who believe the hockey gods exist, the heater Tobias Rieder's been on lately might be proof enough that these deities have a sense of humor.
Whether or not a higher power's responsible for meting out poetic justice in the Edmonton bubble, it's clear Rieder deserves full credit for anchoring the Flames' influential penalty kill - and, effectively, for showing up his previous employer. As a fourth-line winger on the lackluster 2018-19 Oilers, Rieder incurred the wrath of franchise CEO Bob Nicholson for failing to score all season, and specifically for blowing "so many breakaways."
Naturally, two of Rieder's three goals this month at Rogers Place have come on breakaways, and they've all come shorthanded, matching the NHL postseason record. For a player who's scored five shorties across 434 career regular-season games, this constitutes a timely and gratifying uptick.
Through Tuesday's games, only Vancouver, Washington, and St. Louis have been penalized more frequently than Calgary, but the Flames' scoring differential while shorthanded is a sparkling minus-one, thanks to their 86.1% kill rate (31-36) and a fourth goal from Mikael Backlund. That Calgary's nine goals on the power play are second only to Vancouver - on five fewer opportunities - is a special-teams bonus.
Vegas' forwards
Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith converse against Chicago. Andy Devlin / NHL / Getty Images
Vegas' offensive profile contrasts that of the Canucks.Both teams have scored in bunches, but while the Golden Knights' power play hasn't sizzled yet - the unit is 4-21 (19.1%) through eight games - they've run rampant at evens, bringing to the playoffs the puck-possession dominance their stacked lineup exerted all season.
The 22 goals the Golden Knights have netted at five-on-five are most in the postseason. If you think they've simply benefited from getting to roll over the Blackhawks, 10 of those goals came during the round robin against the Western Conference's other high seeds.
Not all the credit should be reserved for the guys up front; No. 1 defenseman Shea Theodore's four tallies, including three at evens, tie for the team lead. But the characteristic Vegas scoring play starts with monopolizing control in the offensive zone, where all four forward lines are capable of ragging the puck and creating chances.
According to Natural Stat Trick, six Golden Knights - William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Jonathan Marchessault, William Carrier, and Patrick Brown - rank among the top 30 forwards league-wide in individual expected goals percentage. Reilly Smith and Ryan Reaves aren't far behind. Vegas generated more than 70% of shot attempts, meanwhile, when third-liners Nick Cousins, Nicolas Roy, and Alex Tuch took shifts against Chicago at five-on-five.
Coach Peter DeBoer has depth at his disposal and stars and grinders alike are validating his use of it.
Islanders' defensemen
Adam Pelech defends against Evgeny Kuznetsov. Mark Blinch / NHL / Getty Images
Entering Game 4 on Tuesday, Isles coach Barry Trotz's charges had limited the Capitals to five measly goals on 24.7 shots per game, seven fewer shots than Washington's average this season.
Where Vegas rides roughshod on many nights by hogging possession, Trotz teams frustrate and squeeze the will out of opponents over 60 minutes. Alex Ovechkin has four goals in the series, but curtailing the Caps' attack - just as the Islanders did to the Penguins in last year's first-round sweep - paced New York to three straight wins before a slim Game 4 defeat.
In front of Semyon Varlamov, whose save percentage at even strength these playoffs is .955 (and .927 overall), the Islanders' defense corps has been a steadying force. The six regulars have pitched in to drive exceedingly positive expected-goal differentials at five-on-five, and they've done so without any one guy being overly taxed. Sixth man Andy Greene plays only four fewer minutes a game than top-pair partners Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech. Even in Sunday's Game 3 overtime win, Pelech's team-high ice time maxed out at 22:10.
Balanced efforts still require leaders, and Pulock and Pelech fit the bill. Chicago's Olli Maatta and Dallas' John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen are the only defensemen outscoring Pulock (five assists) at even strength. Pelech, meantime, looks like his usual impassable self now that the Achilles injury that would have sidelined him for the duration of a regularly scheduled postseason has healed.
Columbus' goalies
Joonas Korpisalo sprays his face with water against Tampa Bay. Chase Agnello-Dean / NHL / Getty Images
Elvis Merzlikins mostly shone in spot duty against the Leafs in the qualifying round, compiling a .946 save percentage across his 120 minutes in net. That he and his defense wilted during Toronto's furious three-goal comeback late in Game 4 wasn't ideal. But Columbus rectified the lapse in Game 5, and the Latvian rookie's impact was positive, in general.
Enough about Merzlikins, though. His best days in the NHL are ahead, but the Blue Jackets feature here because of Joonas Korpisalo, their MVP in the bubble and the netminding revelation of the playoffs.
The Jackets may be out by the time you read this, but Korpisalo won't be to blame should the Lightning finalize their five-game ouster Wednesday afternoon. His save percentage through eight appearances - against two of the league's fieriest offenses - stands at .953. Korpisalo made 33 saves in the shutout that eliminated Toronto and 36 on 37 shots in the Jackets' lone win against Tampa so far.
There's also the matter of his record 85 denials in the five-OT epic that opened this series. I'll make an executive call here: no further argument in his favor is needed.
Korpisalo, 26, is two weeks younger than his platoon partner Merzlikins, but he has four more NHL seasons to his name - those he spent in Columbus from 2015-19 as Sergey Bobrovsky's mediocre backup. Merzlikins was the better goalie in similar time this season, and as late as Game 5 against the Leafs, the No. 1 role remained up for grabs. Korpisalo settled John Tortorella's dilemma by summoning the run of his life.
Game 4 was as lopsided as any we'll see in these playoffs. It was an embarrassment - men against boys, as Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet put it. The Avalanche won 7-1, but it wasn't only on the scoreboard that Colorado dominated.
There's no way the Coyotes embarrass themselves like that again. This is a team with a strong defensive system and one of the league's best goalies - it'll respond positively to its humiliation. In order to do so, Arizona needs to get back to the basics: disciplined, defensive hockey. There's no world in which the Coyotes beat the Avalanche in a game of pond hockey and they learned that the hard way.
Darcy Kuemper is obviously a lot better than what he showed Sunday, though his defense did him no favors. But he's been known to rebound: over his Coyotes career, after allowing five or more goals in a game, Kuemper's averaged only two against in his next start (12 goals against in six games).
Elimination games are typically much tighter. With a spirited response from the Coyotes and a strong showing from Kuemper, they keep things close in a game in which they're fighting for their playoff lives.
Pick: Under 5.5 (-130)
Montreal Canadiens (+120) @ Philadelphia Flyers (-140)
Things aren't playing out in this series as the underlying stats suggest they should. All the numbers - expected goals, scoring chances, possession - suggest the Canadiens should have a stranglehold on the series. They've controlled an enormous share of the expected goals and outscored the Flyers 6-5 through four games, but have only one win to show for it.
The Canadiens again held the edge in Game 4, but a pair of weak goals allowed by Carey Price, a Jeff Petry shot off the post, and some Carter Hart heroics resulted in yet another win for the Flyers. Yeah, Montreal is playing well, but the results aren't there. It's the playoffs - chances don't matter, only goals do, and the Habs can't find the back of the net right now.
Sure, they're a bit snakebitten - they've hit countless posts - but there's also some scoring talent lacking in this forward group. It's the same issue that plagued the Habs all regular season - they were eighth in expected goals for but 18th in actual goals scored. At some point you have to jump ship, and with the Canadiens reeling, it's time to put on our life jackets and swim to safety.
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
