Flyers’ Sean Couturier: Zac Rinaldo Should Have Been Suspended For Hit

Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier believes the NHL made a mistake in not suspending Zac Rinaldo.

Rinaldo, a former Flyers winger currently in his first season with the Boston Bruins, was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for a hit that knocked Couturier out of last Wednesday’s game at TD Garden.

The league decided against handing down supplemental discipline to the 25-year-old, however, which Couturier said Tuesday he did not agree with.

“I don’t agree, but there’s nothing I can do,” he told reporters, via NJ.com. “The puck was coming on the board, and I just redirected it in the middle and kind of braced myself to get hit in the back (by Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid), and the next thing I know, I got hit right in the head.”

Couturier, who has yet to return to the Flyers’ lineup, also revealed Tuesday that he suffered a concussion on the play. He reportedly hopes to play Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.

“(Rinaldo) sent me a text telling me he was sorry,” Couturier said. “I said I was fine.”

In news unrelated to the incident, Rinaldo is expected to be a healthy scratch for the first time this season when the Bruins host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.

Thumbnail photo via Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports Images