Flyers experimenting with Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny on ‘dangerous’ same line

NEW YORK — For the Flyers’ last two games against the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars, coach John Tortorella opted to move Owen Tippett from his natural position of right wing to left wing. He placed Tippett on a line with Travis Konecny on the right side, stacking the Flyers’ two most productive scorers together (Konecny has a team-high 29 goals on the season, Tippett is second with 23).

But it didn’t last through the entire contest against the Stars.

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In the third period of the Flyers’ eventual 4-1 loss to Dallas, Tortorella split Tippett up from Konecny. He placed Tippett back on the right wing with Noah Cates at left wing and Kevin Hayes at center. In the final period, Tortorella saw Tippett play his best minutes. The coach wasn’t sure if that was because Tippett felt more comfortable on the right side or if his mindset shifted toward being more of a difference-maker.

Despite the lack of immediate chemistry, Tortorella isn’t giving up permanently on trying Tippett at left wing with Konecny on the right side.

“I don’t think we had a lot of guys going for a lot of that game offensively,” Tortorella said. “So we’ll see. I certainly want to revisit it, I’ll tell you that, because I think it could be something dangerous if they could work together.”

Against the Stars, the Tippett-Cates-Konecny line generated six shot attempts and was on the ice for nine, according to Natural Stat Trick. They created three scoring chances and were on the ice for four. On Tuesday night against the Blues, Tippett and Konecny had both Cates and Morgan Frost as their center at times. With Cates, they generated eight shot attempts (four scoring chances) and were on the ice for eight against (three chances against). With Frost, they generated nine shot attempts (four scoring chances) and were on the ice for five against (four chances against).

Tippett hasn’t played left wing for a sustained period of time since his AHL days when he was in the Florida Panthers’ organization. But Tippett said that he doesn’t change too much about his game when he moves from the right to the left.

“I think, mentally, it’s just getting out of the habits of always coming back on the right side in the D zone and stuff like that,” Tippett said. “But for the most part, it’s the same position. It can change little things here and there. And where and when you get the puck and where you’re facing when you get the puck. So it can change little things like that.”

When Tortorella starts to look ahead to next season, he sees a potential logjam at right wing. With Tippett, Konecny, and Wade Allison under contract, Cam Atkinson expected to return from a season-long injury (neck surgery), and prospect Tyson Foerster expected to contend for an opening-night roster spot, Tortorella could have an abundance of right wingers at his disposal.

Tippett won’t be the only player getting a look on the left side over the final four games of the season. Tortorella said he wanted to try Allison at left wing for at least part of Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders. While Tippett may not have an abundance of experience on the left side, he understands the experiment and is up to the challenge.

“We’re pretty deep on the right side,” Tippett said. “So I think whether it be me or someone else, I think he wants to try and see other guys on opposite wings and whatever it may be. So I think it’s always good to be able to play two positions in different times of the game.”

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Goalie Carter Hart (21-22-10, .908 save percentage) will start in net against the Islanders, marking his 200th career NHL game. Hart, 24, will become just the fifth goalie to play 200 games with the Flyers, joining Ron Hextall (489), Bernie Parent (486), Steve Mason (231), and Doug Favell (215). ... Defenseman Ronnie Attard was loaned back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday. Attard, 24, played two games in his recall with the Flyers and averaged 16 minutes, 45 seconds of ice time. ... Tortorella said that defenseman Justin Braun will come in for Attard and that the Flyers will go with 12 forwards and six defensemen, indicating that defenseman Tony DeAngelo is likely a scratch for a second straight game.