The Philadelphia Flyers open up a quick two-game road trip up in Montreal on Tuesday night, and they’re doing so without Tyson Foerster. The Flyers placed the winger on injured reserve prior to Sunday night’s loss to the Calgary Flames.
Without Foerster, Rick Tocchet tried to keep the magic of the Noah Cates line together with Owen Tippett joining Bobby Brink on the wing, but that was short-lived as the lines were thrown into the blender for the third period.
Flyers lineup vs. Canadiens
The Flyers were able to generate their only goal in the third period, off the stick of Travis Konecny, and it looks like they’re going with those lines in Montreal, per Jackie Spiegel:
Owen Tippett – Christian Dvorak – Trevor Zegras
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Travis Konecny
Rodrigo Abols – Jacob Gaucher – Garnet Hathaway
With Foerster out of the lineup, Tocchet has elected to split up the Cates line entirely.
Another notable change to the lineup is Grebenkin getting a chance on the third line. He has primarily played fourth-line minutes throughout the season after seeing some time with top-six forwards during the preseason.
Outside of that, Dvorak and Zegras are sticking together with Tippett replacing Michkov on that line. Michkov is off to a slow start this season, so perhaps Tippett’s speed and skill can get that line going.
Much has been made about Zegras’ start to the season. He’s led the way with 13 points in 12 games, but he’s doing so in a hybrid winger/center role with Dvorak rather than centering his own line. The Flyers traded for Zegras with the idea of him helping to solve the team’s center depth, and perhaps he’ll still do that later in the season, but he’s playing at a point-per-game pace in his current role.
That moves Michkov down to the second line with Couturier, a centerman he’s played plenty with, and Brink, who is out on his lonesome with Foerster injured and Cates centering a new line.
That new Cates line could be a good checking line, though, with the aforementioned Grebenkin and the two-way game of Konecny. Konecny is on a four-game point streak, but those numbers are masking some of his on-ice decisions. He took a high-sticking penalty early in Sunday’s game against the Flames, and then got called for unsportsmanlike conduct as he was yapping on his way to the box.
The fourth line is perfectly cromulent with Abols back down there, Gaucher holding his own in the NHL, and Hathaway still doing his thing.
Foerster has to miss at least the next two games after going on IR on Sunday, so we’ll see if these lines have any hold to them as the Flyers face off against the Canadiens and Senators up in Canada this week.
Flyers’ new-look power play units
The injury to Foerster also shakes up the power-play units for the Flyers. He’s a key cog on one of the units, so we’re seeing two new groups in Montreal:
Jamie Drysdale is quarterbacking one of the units with Cates, Zegras, Tippett, and Brink. York remains the quarterback on the “second” unit with Couturier, Konecny, Michkov, and Dvorak.
The Flyers failed to score on their lone power play against the Flames, ending a four-game streak with a power-play goal. They’re still scoring at an 18.9% clip, which is only the 13th-lowest in the league.
The team’s power-play production has been pretty lopsided so far, though. Zegras has been on the ice for seven goals, with the rest of his former unit (York, Foerster, Cates, and Brink) on for six. Couturier and Dvorak have yet to help generate a goal on the man advantage, with Konecny, Drysdale, and Tippett on for one.
These new-look units do have some potential to them. Zegras and Drysdale should be able to work the puck around to help set up Tippett for some shots, with the other two working around the net.
Michkov gets some help from York on the power play, as the defenseman has looked good quarterbacking the man advantage thus far. Konecny is plenty capable of generating chances as well, and then you have two big bodies in Couturier and Dvorak who can win battles in front.