During Saturday\u2019s game against the host San Jose Sharks, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was trying to find an answer to a simple question. The Flyers, who all season have been behind the eight ball when it came to center depth, were really in a bind. Sean Couturier was out of the lineup, and Noah Cates was in the penalty box. That left centers Christian Dvorak (who logged a ridiculous 25:32 by game\u2019s end) and Trevor Zegras as options. The only problem Zegras had just come off the ice. He had no centers left, and Emil Andrae was splitting time between playing the backend and playing down the middle. Times were tough. But winger Owen Tippett came through in the clutch.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll let Tocchet finish the story from here, as he recalled after Monday\u2019s practice<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean a great story in San Jose there was about nine or ten minutes left, Dvo (Christian Dvorak) was dead, Cates I think was in the box, I think Trevor just came off the ice. I\u2019m like, I looked at the bench and I said, \u2018I need a center.\u2019 And Tippett looked at me and he goes, \u2018I\u2019ll play center!\u2019 Just like that! And I thought it was a cool moment. I said, \u2018Okay get out there!\u2019 We kind of laughed and he went out there and played center a couple of times. So that\u2019s a pretty cool moment to see a guy go, \u2018I\u2019ll do it coach!\u2019 So it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about what transpired Saturday, Tippett \u2014 who played down the middle on what was essentially the Flyers fourth line between Garrett Wilson and Garnet Hathaway \u2014 laughed at the question before responding. <\/p>\n \u201cYeah I think obviously given our lineup the last couple of games we knew that some guys were going to have to step in and play positions that they don\u2019t normally play,\u201d the winger said Monday after Tocchet\u2019s comments<\/a>. \u201cI mean obviously Andrae playing center and he\u2019s a defenseman. It was just kind of in the flow of the game. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m throwing that out there if I\u2019m in the defensive zone or if the draw is in the defensive zone. It was just a cool story. I figured with our system it\u2019s all about communicating on who\u2019s low anyways. So I was out there with two guys who were also ready to do that and knew the situational play.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think too much into it. Like I said if you\u2019re the first one back into the zone you\u2019re the low man and you\u2019re playing a situational position anyhow. That\u2019s just how I looked at it. Not consistently, maybe a shift here and there given the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Tippett answered the call whatever the situation<\/p>\n Tippett played over 20 minutes Saturday, and was called on to play not just down the middle but also the other side of special teams: the penalty kill. Tippett played 1:37 while Philadelphia was down a man and managed to be a threat with his speed if given the chance to break out with the puck. It was a part of the game he hadn\u2019t seen action in since his days playing junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the last time I kind of did it consistently was throughout junior,\u201d Tippett said. \u201cIt was something that I always wanted to add in, I thought that I could be good at it. It keeps me in the game a little bit more, and it keeps me going in the flow of the game too. So it\u2019s something I always wanted to add. I think over the years you learn a lot about positioning and kind of more about the system. I\u2019m happy with being able to contribute whenever I can.\u201d<\/p>\n Tippett\u2019s potential was on Tocchet\u2019s \u201cto do\u201d list<\/p>\n It was something that might have scared a few fans, knowing Tippett could possibly block a shot killing a penalty and be out of action as a result. Yet, there he was, doing whatever he could to help the Flyers shut down a desperate San Jose team and escape with a rather unlikely three-game West Coast sweep. The growth in Tippett\u2019s game has been obvious throughout the season. It\u2019s also something that Tocchet knew would be on his proverbial to do list in the summer heading into his first year as Philadelphia\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course when I took the job in the summer they talked and said we got to get to this guy\u2019s potential,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cThat\u2019s just a coach and player relationship and how we both see how the game is played and stuff like that. He\u2019s been, he\u2019s been allowed some freedom, I mean the guy is a game-breaker type of guy. But he\u2019s also done some nice stuff where he\u2019s dug in\u2026you know, that great hit against Celebrini, that\u2019s a big thing. It\u2019s nice to see him do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Shark hunting \ud83e\udd88 pic.twitter.com\/KHrX3CSMR4<\/a><\/p>\n