Philadelphia Flyers Game Breakdown: How About Those Top-6 Forwards?

The Philadelphia Flyers’ top two line combinations dominated the Chicago Blackhawks at 5-on-5.

So, it turns out winning hockey games is pretty darn fun! The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 4-3, taking the 2019 Global Series matchup from their Western Conference opponent. Nearly every player on the Flyers fired on all cylinders, which led them to their fourth straight season-opening victory.

There was a specific group that kept catching my eye through the entire contest, though. Philadelphia’s Top-6 forwards consistently controlled play over the Blackhawks, making Alain Vigneault look pretty good for the time being, as there was some skepticism surrounding his lines and defensive pairings coming into the international matchup from the fans.

The top-line combination of Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes, and Jakub Voracek were statistically the Flyers best line all day, or, night? I guess? Whatever time it was where you watched the game. The trio led all Philadelphia lines in Corsi-for (66.67 CF%), Relative Corsi-for (11.40), Fenwick-for (66.67 FF%), and Relative Fenwick-for (5.95) percentages at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. While they weren’t able to put anything passed Corey Crawford, Giroux, Hayes, and Voracek still created a litany of scoring chances, which isn’t an easy thing to do against a talented Blackhawks group.

On one play, Giroux took advantage of Jonathan Toews over-skating the puck while entering the zone, allowing him to find Voracek who blasted through the neutral zone and hit Ivan Provorov with an impressive pass, though the Russian defender just missed on the shot as the net came off of its’ moorings. Though I liked what I saw from him in the preseason, I was slightly skeptical of putting Hayes at the 1C over Sean Couturier. He put all of that to rest by doing a great job of meshing with his two skilled wingers and hopefully will only continue to get better as the three gain more chemistry.

Moving on to the second line, Travis Konecny. That’s it, that’s the story. TK was easily the Flyers most effective player on the ice in this game, scoring two goals and tying for second amongst forwards on the team in High Danger Scoring Chances-for at even-strength. I mean, do I even have to bring up the highlight reel goal he netted at 4-on-4? Who am I kidding, of course I do!

I thought this one of the few times in Konecny’s young career that he actually carried his line. If he was on the ice, the puck was on his stick, but let’s not forget about Couturier and Oskar Lindblom, who both also had excellent performances. Their line ranked second among Philadelphia lines in CF% (61.11%), CF% Rel. (4.15), Goals-for percentage (50.00%), and Expected Goals-for percentage (63.19%), again all at 5-on-5. As far as my eye test went, I thought they were the Flyers finest line combo, generating plenty of chances while showcasing a significant bit of chemistry together, as well.

Now, it is just one game, but the Flyers’ performance against Chicago could be a sign of great things to come under Vigneault if they can follow it up at home against the New Jersey Devils and beyond.