Big Night in Home Opener Has Flyers Top Line Rolling

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Jeff Quake, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

It started as an experiment, but at the beginning of the 2017-18 Flyers season, it quickly turned into more than just that when the Flyers started the season with Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek on the top line.

Fans were shocked by the move that the team captain would shift over to the left wing. It's easy to forget that Giroux had prior experience on the wing going back to his days in juniors, especially when you consider he had primarily served as a center since the 2011-12 season.

The new-look top line got on a roll quickly against the Washington Capitals in Saturday's home opener, as the Giroux-Couturier-Voracek eventually contributed to four of the eight goals.

Voracek led the way with three assists, giving him nine total in five games this season, Voracek's best start in his career. He had seven points in the first five games twice previously — the 2016-17 season and in 2014-15, where he scored two goals and had five assists in five games.

Giroux recorded his ninth career game of four or more points, however it is just the third time this has occurred while scoring multiple goals. His last four-point effort was Feb. 29, 2016 against the Calgary Flames when he posted four assists. His last game of two goals and two assists came on Dec. 20, 2014 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The only other time Giroux posted two goals and two assists was on home ice on Dec. 19, 2013 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Couturier recorded his fourth career two-goal game. His last one came exactly one year ago on Oct. 14, 2016 in the Flyers season opener in Los Angeles.

The trio put an emphasis on getting pucks to the net and trying to shoot more. All three are strong passers who have a knack for setting up teammates. Head coach Dave Hakstol noticed his top line not only trying to shoot more, but getting results as they did Saturday.

"I don’t think that was really a change for them. I think they have been doing that," Hakstol said. "Obviously, tonight, they had some of the results that were really good for them, but those guys are continuing to build chemistry and that is obviously real important for our hockey team. They were one of the lines that had a good night tonight, I thought everybody did their part."

Couturier echoed similar sentiments, noting that finally the results justified the level of play the line had displayed.

"Since the start of the year, we have been getting a lot of chances every night," Couturier said. "We have been scoring a little bit. Tonight we shot the puck a little more, it’s nice to get those goals.

"I think we know that we like to pass the puck around and make nice plays. We have to shoot the puck when you have a chance and tonight that’s what I think we did."

It remains to be seen if the top line can sustain even a small part of the huge success they had in front of the home fans on Saturday night. At the very least, they produced as a unit, which proves that the experiment of Giroux on the wing can work for the Flyers.

What the rest of the season will look like for this top line, or if they can stick together on a line for the duration of the season, is the question this group has to face going forward.