Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier will not travel with the team for at least the first two contests of its four-game road trip due to an upper-body injury.
Couturier, who was listed as day-to-day, will sit out against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
The Flyers (36-29-11, 83 points) have dropped five in a row and are clinging to a one-point lead over fourth-place Washington (36-28-10, 82 points) in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
Couturier, 31, has 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) in 70 games this season. He did not play in two games last month while serving as a healthy scratch.
The 2019-20 Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward, Couturier has 496 points (191 goals, 305 assists) in 791 career games with the Flyers. Philadelphia selected him with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft.