Flyers Game
Flyers Report Card: A Lines Shakeup
The Philadelphia Flyers battled the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Each team traded two-goal periods and were held scoreless in the third. A Thomas Harley overtime goal, his second of the game, would lift Dallas to the 3-2 win.
Travis Konecny ended his scoreless streak after 13 games and finally scored a goal. It marked his fifth point since the break.
The Flyers jumbled their lines a bit, which helped provide some much-needed offensive juice for a team that had been struggling to score. Although the Flyers only scored two goals, they looked much better Saturday night.
Read More: Flyers Fall in OT, Lose 3-2 in Dallas
Flyers Report Card: Looking at the Forward Lines
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink: A
Ah, ole reliable. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Flyer’s top line has been great ever since coming together. They do a bit of everything.
They all can score, and they’re the Flyers’ best defensive forwards. This is an all-around great line.
They did their thing Saturday afternoon. Tyson Foerster earned the only assist of the three players, but they all looked great.
Foerster, however, stood out the most. It seems like almost every game these days you watch, and Foerster is everywhere. He played another great game on Saturday.
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny: B+
I won’t lie—I smiled a bit when I saw Matvei Michkov playing the left wing during Saturday’s game. The Flyers have a problem–their two best players play the same position.
There was a brief experiment with Travis Konecny on the left side, but it did not go as planned. The Flyers needed to get their two best players back on the same line, and they did.
I wish there was a bit more production from this line, but it finally looks like John Tortorella found a linemate that can help bring out Konecny’s best again. I look at Konecny’s goal, and all I can think about is Michkov’s positioning on the opposite side, and I am sure Jake Ottinger was too.
When two lethal shooters are on the same line, it is hard to predict where the shot will come from.
I hope this was not a one-and-done line, at least from the wings. They looked really solid together on Saturday.
Read More: Flyers Pick Watch: Where Will the Flyers be Drafting?
The Bottom Six: C
The bottom six was shaken up a bit mid-game. More specifically, an Owen Tippett drop to the fourth line brought Olle Lycksell up to the third.
For the first time with the Flyers, Jakob Pelletier was playing on a scoring line, and it showed. He finally looked like the player that was advertised by Calgary. It was by far his best game as a Flyer. The difference? More ice time and playing with legit scorers. There was plenty to like from Pelletier.
He was getting to the net, making passes, and hunting the puck deep in the offensive zone. Pelletier was playing aggressively, made a handful of great passes, and showed the Flyers that he is still that high-energy guy that Calgary loved.
As for the player across from him, Olle Lycksell, you have to think the NHL experiment for him is coming to an end.
Lycksell has been an amazing AHLer and has certainly earned every chance he has received in the NHL. I truly don’t know why he struggles in the NHL as badly as he does. He is a good skater with solid speed and is great with zone entries. Lycksell just cannot find his scoring touch. He cost Pelletier a couple of points on Saturday.
Ryan Poehling, on the other hand. Well, Poehling is playing some of the best hockey of his career lately. Poehling and Cates play a very similar game. Where Poehling falls behind Cates defensively, he makes up for it with better offense. He is proving that he is a perfect bottom-six center.
Everyone else–Owen Tippett, Rodrigo Abols, and Nic Deslauriers—did not stand out. They did not do anything great or tragic. They just sort of skated.
The Flyers kept it close with Dallas. If they could have got anything from those guys listed, it could have been a complete different outcome.
Read More: Flyers 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: James Hagens (PhHN+)
You don’t want a completely different outcome. The best thing for the long term is for the bottom to fall out and gain the best draft pick that you can. Right now they are at 5, after going 1-8-1 in their last 10 games. The best thing that could happen is they lose the two games they play Buffalo in regulation, but somehow Tort’s will be Tort’s and the ping pong balls won’t drop their way either and they’ll get leapfrogged by some team and end up picking 7th. There’s a drop off after 5 from what I have read.
Preds are hot with some games in hand….so they could pass the Flyers and they play each other still. But the next four games for the Preds are a gauntlet..Blues, Canes, Blues and Vegas.