Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier was left out of the lineup as a healthy scratch for Tuesday's clash against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Couturier, 31, has four assists and is a minus-14 in his last 15 games. He last scored a goal Feb. 10.

"Control what I can control, it is what it is," Couturier said before the game, according to PHLY Sports' Charlie O'Connor.

He added, "Just gotta leave my ego aside, I guess, and hopefully the team finds a way to get a win here tonight, and I can get back into it soon."

The 31-year-old was named the Flyers' captain Feb. 14.

Couturier returned to action this season after missing nearly two years with a back injury. The 2020 Selke Trophy winner has 11 goals and 36 points in 64 games.

Philadelphia is third in the Metropolitan Division with 76 points.

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We have an exciting 13-game slate ahead of us on Tuesday night. Let's waste no time getting to a few of my favorite player props.

David Pastrnak: Over 4.5 shots

Pastrnak has been unusually quiet at home, going over his total in just two of the past 10 games. That stems from a string of opponents that excel defensively or lean toward low-event hockey.

Against the Lightning, Kings, Stars, Oilers, and Flyers, Pastrnak struggled to generate volume.

That shouldn't be an issue against the Senators. They rank 28th in five-on-five shot suppression over the last 10 games and are not good on the penalty kill, where they'll have to deal with one of the league's most feared snipers in Pastrnak.

Even when accounting for Pastrnak's recent rut in terms of shooting the puck, he's still averaging 4.9 shots on 9.5 attempts when playing in Boston this season. Those are remarkably strong numbers.

Look for him to get back on track in an advantageous matchup against the Senators.

Odds: +107 (playable to -125)

Alex Nylander: Over 2.5 shots

Nylander has been the biggest beneficiary of the Blue Jackets trading Jack Roslovic on deadline day. He has logged no fewer than 16 minutes in five games since that point while playing a prominent role on the top line and power play.

He's taking full advantage of his ice time, averaging 4.2 shots on goal per game while going over his total in four of five. The lone exception came against a stingy Jets team in a contest where Nylander still had two shots with more than a period to finish the job.

He should be able to get right back on the horse against the Red Wings. They have stumbled lately and are giving up tons of shots at even strength and while killing penalties. The Red Wings have also taken a lot of penalties, which greatly benefits opposing shooters.

That is important to note as Nylander has led the Blue Jackets in power-play shots and chances since deadline day.

Odds: -114 (playable to -130)

Adrian Kempe: Over 3.5 shots

Kempe is piling up the shots. He has gone over his total in seven of the past 10 contests, averaging a healthy 4.5 shots per game in that span.

Although he let us down the last time he faced the Blackhawks, the process was strong. He attempted seven shots but had four blocked by defenders. If a couple of those had made their way through, he would've cashed the over once again.

The Kings also won the game in the first period, going up 4-0 within 14 minutes. They sat on a lead for 57 minutes and a multi-goal lead for 55, and Kempe still generated more than enough attempts to get there.

The Blackhawks give up a ton of shots and, with any luck, the game will be competitive for more than five minutes. That should result in more ice time for Kempe when the Kings are pushing for offense, raising the floor and ceiling for shooting the puck.

Odds: -125 (playable to -140)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.

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Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas doesn't just want Sidney Crosby to finish his career with the team. He wants the club to compete for a Stanley Cup in the process.

"I think everyone's been pretty clear on where they stand on the fact everyone would like to see him end his career in Pittsburgh," Dubas told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, "And it's my intention that in those years that we're back and definitely contending."

Amid a disappointing campaign that sees Pittsburgh on the outside of the playoff picture, the Penguins traded Crosby's long-time linemate Jake Guentzel before the deadline.

The deal left Crosby searching for answers, and his comments began to draw into question his future in Pittsburgh.

"It's tough when you have to make those decisions," Dubas said about trading Guentzel. "But you have to always do what you believe is best for the long term of the organization and my sights were set on giving the team as long as possible to assert itself more in the race."

Dubas understands Crosby's uncertainty about the trade.

"I would never expect for us to move a key player from our team and have any of those guys, including (head coach Mike Sullivan), Sid, Kris Letang, (Evgeni) Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, to think that that's a good thing."

Crosby's voice remains vital, but Dubas admits there are decisions he makes as a GM that his star captain may not like.

"I think you'd be remiss not to seek his opinion and how he's feeling," he said. "Obviously he's done so much for the city of Pittsburgh and for the Penguins ... I want his opinion, I value his opinion."

He added: "We may not always agree and I might have to do things in the short run he disagrees with."

Dubas noted that a private conversation between himself, Crosby, and his agent Pat Brisson would occur after the season regarding the future and the team's next steps.

The Penguins are sixth in the Metropolitan Division and are six points out of the second wild-card spot.

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Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season on Monday against the Calgary Flames, reaching the 20-goal mark for the 19th consecutive campaign.

Ovechkin joined Gordie Howe and Brendan Shanahan as the only players in NHL history to accomplish the feat. Howe did it in a record 22 consecutive seasons, but Ovechkin is the only one to do it from the beginning of his career.

The Great Eight notched his second of the contest in vintage fashion for career goal No. 843. He's now 51 goals back of tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

Both goals came against Flames rookie Dustin Wolf, who's the 174th goalie Ovi has scored on. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored against more netminders.

A relatively clean bill of health has played a major role in Ovechkin's streak, as he's never missed more than 10 games in a season. His streak also survived three different shortened campaigns as a result of the lockout (2012-13) and the pandemic (2019-20 and 2020-21).

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