If there was one silver lining from the Philadelphia Flyers’ 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals Wednesday night, it was the play of their new top line of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier and rookie sensation Matvei Michkov.
That trio only saw 3:18 of 5-on-5 ice time together in Washington, but that 3:18 was beyond productive. They outshot the Capitals by a count of 6-1 and logged a stellar 70.52 Expected Goals For percentage during that wee span.
Konecny, Couturier, and Michkov stuck together in the Flyers’ Saturday matinee against the Minnesota Wild at Wells Fargo Center. Needless to say, the productivity continued.
In 11:42 of 5-on-5 ice time, that trio dominated the play-driving battle and accounted for four of the Flyers’ goals. With that line on the ice, the Flyers outshot Minnesota 12-5, posted a phenomenal 80.00 Goals For percentage, and generated a whopping seven high-danger scoring chances. Konecny registered four assists, Couturier added two goals and a helper, and Michkov added an apple of his own.
And that was just at 5-on-5.
In total, those three players finished the tilt with a combined 12 (!) points at all strengths. Couturier, of course, not only ended his goal scoring drought, but also logged the second hat trick of his career.
Couturier and Konecny have had established chemistry for some time. Michkov, meanwhile, is still a bit unfamiliar to the two Flyers veterans. But they’re figuring each other out pretty quickly.
“What I’m learning is just give him the puck and try to get open,” Konecny quipped after the Flyers’ 7-5 victory over Minnesota.
“Me and TK, we’ve played a lot together over the last couple years,” said Couturier. “We kind of know each other out on the ice what our tendencies and our strengths and weaknesses (are).
“(Michkov), we’re getting to know him every day, every game. He’s a great player with a lot of skill. A lot of upside. He’ll make plays that not many guys can make. I kind of try to make it easy on them, create some time and space for them and go to the net and let them do their thing.”
It took a fair bit of tinkering for this line to take shape. Michkov began the season playing left wing, and Couturier was lining up at wing on the fourth line just a week ago in the Flyers’ home opener.
But dating back to the preseason, head coach John Tortorella sensed there was something exciting brewing between Konecny, Couturier, and Michkov. The three of them needed to be together — even if that meant taking Konecny off the right wing, where he’s historically been most comfortable.
“They have chemistry. I knew they had chemistry,” Tortorella said after the game.
“[Michkov] didn’t feel comfortable on left wing, and I wanted him to get his feet wet and not put him into situations where he can’t grow early on. It got to the point where the lack of offense and the lack of — just struggling offensively, we needed to put TK on the left wing. TK’s not crazy about left wing. But when you see those two guys play, they’re never on their wing. And that’s the greatest thing about hockey. You can be a designated left winger, but the way the game flows, you can be all over the place. And that’s the way TK plays. That’s the way [Michkov] plays. So we’ll stay with it.”
Konecny admitted the differences between left and right wing are somewhat minuscule mid-play. When he’ll need to make adjustments is when the puck drops.
“It’s a little different when you set up in a D-zone draw and then you’re playing on the other side on your backhand, so that’s something to get used to,” he said.
“If you watch the game when you’re coming back into the zone, it happens pretty quick when you sort things out, you end up on both sides anyway. It’s just a matter of responsibilities of draws and just getting used to that. It’s not a crazy thing.”
Perhaps the most ironic development from the line’s breakout performance was that it was Couturier, not the offensive wizards Konecny or Michkov, who broke through for three goals.
Of course, Couturier is no stranger to generating offense. Before missing the better part of two years of action due to back surgeries, he consistently hovered around a point-per-game pace all while terrorizing opposing teams away from the puck. But even though his best days may be behind him as he approaches 32 years old, his fit between Konecny and Michkov is almost picturesque given how he complements their styles of play.
After all, playing between the Flyers’ two biggest stars isn’t exactly foreign to him.
“When I played with [Jakub Voracek] and [Claude Giroux] for so many years, those two guys were some of the best in the world at making passes and with their vision. I knew my role back then was just to kind of find the open area, find the open space and they’ll find me. It’s a little bit similar with these two guys. Obviously, they’re younger and still improving and trying to establish themselves as superstars, but they definitely got the potential and the upside, so I’ve just got to let them do their thing.”
Couturier and his new linemates will be back in action Sunday night when the Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center. It goes without saying, but if the Habs watched any film of the Flyers’ Saturday matinee, they’ll probably have the top line circled in thick, red ink.
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.
