Flyers' Couturier played with torn knee in Games 5, 6

Sean Couturier's five-point game is even more impressive now, despite being in a losing effort.

The Philadelphia Flyers forward revealed Sunday after being eliminated from the playoffs that he played the final two contests of his season with a serious knee injury.

"I guess I tore my MCL," he told reporters, adding an affirmative "yep" when asked to confirm that he played through it during Game 5 and 6 of the Flyers' first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Couturier said he doesn't think he'll need surgery, that an injury of this sort usually requires about four weeks to heal, and that the decision to play through it was his.

"The decision was on me," he stated. "I had the support of the staff, the organization and the medical team. They helped me a lot. (I) had a lot of treatments and it definitely got better over the days but it wasn't the ideal situation."

The talented two-way center notched a hat trick and added a pair of helpers in the Flyers' season-ending 8-5 loss in Game 6 on Sunday, after scoring the eventual winning goal in Philadelphia's 4-2 victory in Game 5 on Friday.

Couturier went down in practice on Tuesday after a nasty collision with teammate Radko Gudas, and missed Game 4 of the first-round series before returning for the final two games of the series.