Flyers’ Owen Tippett is getting into a groove after move to left wing

Owen Tippett’s first goal of the season has eluded him through the Flyers’ first four games, but a two-point night during a 4-1 win Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers signals that it’s on its way.

Tippett finished second on the Flyers in goals with 27 during a breakout 2022-23 campaign. Last season was also his first full season in Philadelphia, after coming over from the Florida Panthers in the Claude Giroux trade at the 2022 deadline.

Tippett, a right-handed shot, has been playing left wing since training camp to ease the Flyers’ logjam on the right wing with the additions of Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink to the lineup. While John Tortorella experimented with Tippett on the left side toward the end of last season, it now appears to be a long-term move.

Tippett said that he was comfortable with the new position during the preseason and that in the long term he thinks it will open up the ice for him.

“Actually, playing on the left side, your stick’s in the middle, [so you can] kind of get things off quicker,” Tippett said. “I was there a bit last year, and I think I just overthought it.”

As he has adjusted to playing on the left side, Tippett has had some trouble finding the net — of 23 shot attempts through his first four games, only eight were ultimately on goal. But his playmaking hasn’t suffered, nor has his chemistry with linemates Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson.

“It’s been great. Those two guys, Cam and Coots, have worked so hard to get back in the lineup, and to be able to play with them, it’s been great,” Tippett said. “If we can kind of stay on the same page, I think it’ll be good.”

Tippett had a pair of setups to Atkinson that led to two goals against the Oilers. First, it was a backhand pass in the second period that Atkinson was able to tip home, and then it was a feed that sent Atkinson off on a breakaway in the third.

Tippett, Couturier, and Atkinson most frequently matched up against the Oilers’ top line, which had Connor McDavid down the middle and Leon Draisaitl on the wing.

“That line was really great,” Tortorella said after the game. “I think they accepted their responsibilities tonight to play against two of the probably best players in the league.”

And in addition to shutting down the Oilers’ top offensive players, they were still able to generate some offense of their own. After a few near-misses against Vancouver two days earlier, Tippett picked up his first two points of the season.

“It was only a matter of time before he broke out,” Atkinson said.

The Flyers will likely be without veteran defenseman Marc Staal for an extended period of time, according to a report by the Fourth Period website Friday morning indicating that Staal would miss at least four weeks.

Staal left the win over Edmonton with an upper-body injury after crashing into the boards in the second period.

The 36-year-old had gotten off to a solid start in his first year in Philadelphia. The Flyers signed him in part to play a mentor role to the younger defensemen, and his extended absence will open the door for those defensemen — Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae — to see increased playing time.

Rasmus Ristolainen has yet to debut this season, though he appears to be nearing a return to the lineup. Ristolainen has been on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury since before the season started. The Flyers, off to a surprising 3-1 start, could make a one-for-one swap on injured reserve and avoid any further roster moves if Ristolainen is indeed ready to play.

The team did not practice Friday before traveling to Dallas, where they play Saturday (8 p.m., NBCSP) against the Stars.

Staff writer Jeff Neiburg contributed to this article.