Owen Tippett started the season like a man possessed, scoring five goals in his first six games of the season. All the questions about his streakiness was at the time in the rearview mirror. Now, it’s been nine games since Tippett has scored a goal, with only one assist in that time. It’s been a dry spell of sorts for the winger who sometimes looks like he’s got speed to burn.
But Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet following Tuesday’s practice said Tippett has to clean up parts of his game in order to be successful. And that includes his focus at times.
“I think he recognizes it,” Tocchet said of Tippett’s play. “The one thing he’s been struggling a little bit with we know is he’s been getting chances. He had a couple of breakaways in those nine games, he’s had a two-on-one, he’s had some slot shots. But there’s parts of his game, he knows, we had a meeting the other day. He just can’t…I hate the wording but he kind of gets in and out of the game. He’s got to stay a little bit more focused in the game. I think that will help him. But he knows it and he’s working on that part of it, the mental part of it. But the good thing is he’s getting chances. If I sat up here and said this guy’s getting no chances then I’d be concerned. But he is getting his chances, but there’s some stuff he has to clean up, yes.”
The playing time hasn’t changed much since the start of the season, but a look at the Corsi-For percentage reveals that when Tippett is good he’s really good. And when he’s bad, he’s really bad. So far he’s had four games where his Corsi For percentage is over 60 per cent (including an excellent 73.91 against Minnesota with the Montreal game a close second at 68.18). Meanwhile, that same statistic has been under 40 per cent on five different occasions, the season low being the opening game against Florida (33.33 per cent). Much like his goal scoring, Tippett’s play when not scoring is hit and miss far more often than you’d like it to be. Especially considering the winger is still essentially in the infancy of his eight-year, $49.6 million deal ($6.2 million AAV).
Tocchet is correct in that Tippett hasn’t been completely invisible during this stretch. He had 11 shots on goal in the last four games of October which started the dry spell. And he’s had 12 shots in the five games in November, including six shots against the Canadiens in Philadelphia 5-4 shootout win Nov. 4. He’s also seen his ice time basically stay the same, with a season-high 21:24 in that Montreal contest while the other games primarily between 17 to 18 minutes a night.
Changing lines not an excuse
When asked if Tippett might have been negatively affected by having his linemates switched up following Tyson Foerster’s injury, Tocchet wasn’t in agreement. “I mean yeah but he’s been with Trevor (Zegras) and Dvorak at least I think this year 70 per cent of the time. Sometimes you’ve got to play with different guys because of injuries. And good players adjust to that. If you’re bouncing guys every game I get it, but he’s played with those guys for 70 per cent of the time. So I don’t think that’s an issue.”
That percentage might not be exact, but it rings true. So far Tippett was on a line with Christian Dvorak and Zegras for 76:39 in eight games five-on-five. He’s been paired with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny for five games for a total of 48:46, also five-on-five. Outside of that, he’s been paired with Zegras and Konecny at one point (9:55), Konecny and Dvorak (0:55), Couturier and Dvorak (0:22), and Garnet Hathaway and Rodrigo Abols for a cup of coffee (1:10). So while the line combinations might be different, Tippett has been with Zegras for 86:34 ice time five-on-five so far this season.
It’s easy to suggest the absence of Zegras has negatively affected Tippett. However the winger has had flashes of being the power forward everyone has been waiting for at different instances this season. He’s been a play-driver at times, taking it upon himself to hit another gear on the rush and try to blow by the opposition. It’s not that he’s incapable of it. It’s just so damn frustrating for fans and perhaps the coaching staff seeing a batch of goals in a short amount of time and then essentially crickets for two to three weeks at a times.
Light at end of tunnel
Perhaps the Oilers might just be the perfect opponent for Tippett to get the monkey off his back. He has four goals in seven games against Edmonton, including a pair of goals while being a +5 in plus/minus in a 6-3 victory against them on Feb. 22 earlier this year. He also has three multi-point games against them, so that’s a good sign. He also scored in his last game against St. Louis, the team Philadelphia visits on Friday night. And while not scoring against Dallas in his previous two games against them, he did score a pair on Jan. 18, 2024, including the highlight-reel twirl and backhander in a 5-1 victory at home.
Regardless, it’s important that Tippett gets back on the scoresheet much sooner than later. The longer a drought like this goes on, the more pressure he’ll feel both from himself and everyone else looking on. And that’s not going to help him or the team.
All stats via Natural Stat Trick.
