Flyers Top Line Continues To Destroy As The Boys Make Light Work Out Of Chicago
Flyers 3, Blackhawks 1 | (8-6-2)
When it first came out during preseason that Dave Hakstol decided to slide Claude Giroux over to the left wing and bump Sean 1Couturier up to center that top line, I don’t think there was anybody who actually saw that lasting. Sure, it would be a good line to go with late in games if the team is looking for a quick goal but it seemed more like a gimmick line than anything. But heading into last night’s game against Chicago, there’s only been 1 line in the NHL this year who has been more dominant than The Ginger Beard Men, and that’s been the Kucherov – Stamkos – Namestnikov line in Tampa. But yeah, put 28-14-93 right up there with them.
So last night, that Tampa line went out against the Kings and put up a total of 6 points on the night. Stamkos had a goal and an assist. Kucherov had a goal and 2 assists. Namestnikov had a goal. So what did the Flyers top line go out and do?
Giroux from Voracek to get things going.
Poor Corey Crawford. Buddy wasn’t even close on this one. You give G that much time to set up shop on a one-timer and it’s either ending up in the back of the net or 5 feet over. He was money on this one. Good thing Patrick Kane doesn’t backcheck for shit.
Next it was Voracek from Gostisbehere and Giroux.
Flyers scoring on so many one-timers last night you’d think they were playing NHL Hitz 2002. That assist right there also happened to be Shayne Gostisbehere’s 100th career point. 100 points in 155 career games… as a defenseman. And I bet he’ll get the next hundred even quicker if he leaves that tinted visor.
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Fuckin’ beauty, eh?
And then finally, it was Sean 1Couturier from Giroux and Voracek.
I mean that was just a work of art. Controlled zone entry. 93 and 28 are both so good in tight spaces with the puck. And then you can tell how much playing with Giroux and Voracek has upped Couturier’s game because the kid is a guaranteed finisher right now. 10 goals on the season and that has him in a tie for 5th in the league with Auston Matthews. Who would have thought that a month into the season we’d see Sean Couturier have more goals than Steven Stamkos, Anze Kopitar, Tyler Seguin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, etc. etc.
7 points on the night for the top line which puts them all in the top 15 in the league in points.
Not a big deal…
The only issue with the Flyers right now would be depth. The top line is obviously having a great start to the season. The 4th line of Leier/Laughton/Raffl has had their motor going all season so far and I’d put them up against any other 4th line in the league. I’d like to see a little more from the Konecny/Filppula/Simmonds line but I’m not worried about them. Right now the biggest concern is that 3rd line of Weal/Lehtera/Weise. Jordan Weal has the ability to be a game breaker. He’s a kid who can go out there and string together a few big time shifts every night. But you can’t put him out there with Jori Lehtera and Dale Weise and expect him to be able to do anything with that. Obviously the issue corrects itself once Nolan Patrick is healthy enough to get back in the lineup. That’ll send Lehtera back up to the press box which is where he’ll help this team the most. After that, I think it’s gotta be time to start thinking about making some call ups to replace Dale Weise. Let’s see if Vecchione can play the win and jump in there with 40 and 19. Let’s see if Oscar Lindblom is ready for a few games. Let’s just see if anybody besides Lehtera and Weise can be in this lineup because I immediately change the channel every time they’re on the ice.
The Other Guys
– Hi, yes. Can somebody please direct Lance Bouma to the direction of the weight room please? Thank you.
For every questionable hit that Gudas has in his career, he has one of these that just pulls you right back in to loving the guy. That’s a good, clean check that sends Bouma to outer space. Buddy is a wrecking ball.
– Shoutout to the penalty killing unit last night. Gord Murphy’s kid gets on the board to make it a 3-1 game. Right after that, Gudas takes a tripping penalty and then 16 seconds after that Provorov sends the puck over the glass. So the Blackhawks get a goal and then immediately have a 5v3 to end the period and bring the game to within 1 heading into the 2nd intermission. I feel like the old Flyers give up a goal there in the final minute of the 2nd period, all the momentum swings over to Chicago and then the Flyers end up losing that game 5-3. I know the Blackhawks powerplay has been weak this year, but shoutout to Filppula-Manning-Hagg for going out there and keeping the shots from the outside to hold onto the 2-goal lead. Can’t express enough how much holding off that momentum swing meant to that win last night.
– Obviously Brian Elliott played a huge part in killing off those penalties as well. I thought he looked really good all night long.
He’s still a little too inconsistent for me to feel totally comfortable with. But in terms of rebound control, that was the best that Brian Elliott has looked all season.
– Speaking of guys who had a monster game, shoutout to Robert Hagg. He’s not going to get a ton of praise at the end of the year when it comes to rookie of the year considerations but he plays a great game seemingly every night. Last night it was Provorov and Hagg who were matched up against the Toews/Kane line for the majority of the night. Think about that for a second. A 2nd year player and a rookie defenseman having to match up against 2 of the best players in league history. And they held them off the board all night. Now a lot of that has to do with 28-14-93 completely dominating them in terms of possession numbers. But you still have to give credit to the young defensemen. This Flyers blueline is going to be so so good, so so soon.