Flyers’ Tippett credits line for getting him back on track

Apparently Owen Tippett got the message.
The Flyers forward had been under the media magnifying glass the past week or so as his goal skid hit 10 games.
To make matters worse, he had only assist and was a minus-8 over the course of the dry spell.
Finally the clouds parted on Friday night in St. Louis.
The message, he realized, was that he better get going.
Tippett scored a goal and added three assists, tying a career single-game high, in helping the Flyers rally for a 6-5 shootout win over the Blues in St. Louis.
In all, the line of Tippett, Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak produced a whopping 10 points as the Flyers extended their games with at least a point streak to five.
“Well, ‘Devo’ is all over the ice and ‘Zeegy’ just hangs onto it, makes plays, no matter where he is or how many guys are on him,” Tippett explained in a televised post-game interview. “We’ve been together for a good portion of the year now and it’s fun to me.”
Dvorak appreciates what Tippett brings to the table on that line.
“He’s hit a lot of posts,” Dvorak pointed out. “That’s hockey sometimes. If he works hard, the bounces are going to come his way sooner than later.”
As the season progresses, the chemistry for this unit should only get better as they get more familiar with each other’s moves.
“It’s fun playing with those two,” Dvorak said. “We’re reading off each other well. Made some good plays tonight. Hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Much of Tippett’s offensive game is predicated on getting pucks to the net, a part of the game coach Rick Tocchet has been emphasizing of late.
“I think that’s pretty much the goal every game,” Dvorak said. “That’s what we’re working on, getting pucks to the net and bodies to the net.”
Chances are coach Rick Tocchet is going to stay with that unit at least a while longer. The Noah Cates-Tyson Foerster-Bobby Brink line is pretty much set in stone and Sean Couturier seems to have something going with old pal Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov.
Tippett entered Saturday night’s game against Dallas with 99 career goals on his resume.

>Comeback kids

Make that seven successful comebacks for the Flyers in 17 games this season heading into Saturday night’s match at Dallas. Only the New York Islanders with eight have more.
The Flyers’ four third-period comeback wins are tied with Montreal and the Islanders for tops in the NHL.
That sort of belief will come in handy once the schedule grind hits March and April.
When the Flyers fell behind 5-3 early in the third period against the Blues, it looked like it was time to start the bus. But so far, these guys never feel like they’re out of it.
In fact, the Flyers rallied twice from two-goal deficits. And on the road no less.
The Flyers knew they were going to have their hands full at Dallas against a Western Conference powerhouse.
“When you play back-to-backs, you’ve got to play smart,” Tocchet said. “Good angling, short shifts.”

>Short shots

Following the road trip, the Flyers are off until Thursday when they play host to the Blues. . .Travis Sanheim’s 219 points are now tied with Shayne Gostisbehere for fifth on the Flyers’ alltime defenseman scoring list. Sanheim has already logged over an hour of penalty killing time this season.