IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: FLYERS UPDATES
* Flyers center Sean Couturier was named Player of the Game for Team Canada on Sunday at the IIHF World Championships in Prague, as the undefeated Canadians scorched the usually defensively stingy Team Switzerland by a 7-2 count. Couturier had a goal and two assists in 13:27 of ice time to bring his tournament output to date to five points (three goals, two assists) in six games. Couturier centers Canada's fourth line, playing with Tyler Toffoli and Cody Eakin.
Claude Giroux had a power play goal, an assist and five shots on goal in the rout over Switzerland in 18:39 of ice time. For the tournament to date, Giroux has six points (two goals, four assists) in six games.
Brayden Schenn was a healthy scratch for Canada against Switzerland. He has dressed in only one game to date for the Canadians, and was used very sparingly (nine shifts) by head coach Todd McLellan even in that match.
Team Switzerland captain Mark Streit recorded his first point of the tournament, assisting on his team's first goal against the Canadians. The veteran defenseman had two shots on goal and an even plus-minus in 22:24 of ice time. For the tourney, Streit has one assist, 14 shots on goal, four penalty minutes and a minus-three at even strength in six games.
Canada finishes its preliminary round schedule on Tuesday against Austria. Switzerland plays the host Czech Republic on Tuesday.
* Austria faces a must-win game on Monday against Germany. The Austrians are currently in last place in Group A but tied with France with three points. Michael Raffl leads all players in the entire tournament in faceoff percentage, entering the match against Germany with a 70.1% faceoff winning percentage (61-for-87) through five games. Raffl has two points -- one goal and one assist -- thus far as well. He has recorded 11 shots on goal and taken three minor penalties.
* Team Czech Republic earned a 4-2 win over Germany on Sunday. After the Czechs briefly trailed 2-1 in the second period, captain Jakub Voracek scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on the power play. For the game, Voracek had five shots on goal in 17:27 of ice time. Voracek leads all Flyers participants at the Worlds with seven points (three goals, four assists) in six games. He has 23 shots on goal, six penalty minutes and is plus-one at even strength. Former Flyers right winger Jaromir Jagr assisted on Voracek's goal and later scored one of his own. The ageless future Hall of Famer has six points (four goals, two assists) in the tourney to date. The Czech team finishes its preliminary round slate against the Swiss.
* Team Denmark will not make the medal round and will play its final game of the tournament against Slovenia (which has lost all six of its games to date in regulation) on Monday. Phantoms defenseman Oliver Lauridsen enters the finale with one point, four penalty minutes, four shots on goal and a minus-four at even strength in six games.
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QMJHL FINALS: MORIN SHINES IN GAME THREE
After dropping the first two games of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's President's Cup Finals on home ice, the Rimouski Oceanic bounced back to earn a 4-2 road win over the Quebec Remparts in Game Three on Sunday afternoon. The Remparts still lead, two games to one.
Flyers 2013 first-round pick Samuel Morin, who called his own performance in Game One his worst game of the season, played an outstanding match in Game Three after looking a bit better in the second game.
Morin chipped in a pair of assists, had two shots on goal, was plus-one and stayed out of the penalty box. More important, he played a dominating brand of shut down defense.
In his most impressive sequence of the game, the 6-foot-7 Morin showed off his closing ability defensively, using his long strides and underrated acceleration to catch up to Anthony Duclair -- one of the top speedsters in the league -- as the forward initially seemed to have a clean break up the left wing. Morin skated across the neutral zone, caught up to Duclair and separated him from the puck. Shortly thereafter, Morin triggered a Rimouski rush that led to a goal.
If anyone wonders what the Flyers envision for Morin as he develops over the long haul, this play is a glimpse of the type of defensive impact player the organization thinks he can become, only at the NHL level: