The Philadelphia Flyers activated Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett off injured reserve Sunday, and both are set to return against Utah tonight.
That's a real jolt for a team that has lost three straight and sits 30th in the NHL at 3-8-4. Rick Tocchet gets two top-line right wingers back at the exact moment the Flyers need goals.
Both players had been out since before the Capitals game on Wednesday, when Philadelphia lost 5-2 in Washington without them. The Konecny and Tippett absence before Washington came on the back end of a back-to-back, and the offense looked it.
The Flyers have scored 29 goals this season against 51 allowed, a differential of -22. Getting bodies back that can finish matters.
Konecny has played five games this season with three assists and no goals. His rating sits at -4, which tells you how rough the start has been for him individually and for the team around him.
Tippett has appeared in nine games, scoring once and adding one assist, with a -2 rating. Neither player has been a difference maker yet, and that's something Tocchet needs to fix quickly.
Still, the timing lines up with what the coach said Saturday. According to our earlier report, Tocchet said Konecny and Tippett could face Utah, and the club moved on it.
Can two returning wingers fix a 30th-ranked Flyers offense?
The injury report had listed Konecny as out until at least Nov. 3 and Tippett until at least Nov. 1. Activating Konecny ahead of that estimate suggests the Flyers feel he's ready.
The team's home record is 2-3-3, and the road mark is 1-5-1. Tonight's game is at home, which gives this group a chance to stop the slide in front of its own fans.
The Flyers are 3-5-2 over their last 10 games. That's a team treading water at best, and now it gets two of its most experienced forwards back in the same night.
Philadelphia announced the move on social media, and the club's message was short and to the point.
The Flyers confirmed that Konecny and Tippett came off injured reserve.
If both skate without issue, Tocchet will have his most complete forward group in weeks. The real pressure is on Konecny, who carries an $8,750,000 cap hit and has yet to score this season, but that conversation can wait until the puck drops tonight.
