The Philadelphia Flyers host the Minnesota Wild tonight with an offense that runs through Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras, and not much else.
Philadelphia sits at 4-8-4 for 12 points, 27th in the NHL and 7th in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers beat Utah 6-3 on Sunday, but the full-season numbers still show a team scoring 35 goals and allowing 54.
That is a -19 goal differential, and it's the kind of hole that gets deeper when only a few players are producing.
Michkov leads the group with 10 goals and 12 points in 16 games. Five of those goals came on the power play, which means a big chunk of his output depends on the man advantage.
Zegras is right behind with 13 points, 4 goals and 9 assists, in the same 16 games. He is also 3 goals shy of 100 for his career, but the more pressing issue is what surrounds him on the scoresheet.
Porter Martone and Christian Dvorak each have 7 points. Martone has 2 power-play goals among his 3, so even the third scorer leans on special teams.
Where the secondary scoring is missing
Now look at the next tier. Sean Couturier has 5 points, Noah Cates has 5, and Travis Konecny also has 5 after just 6 games since his return.
Konecny's number is the encouraging one. Five points in 6 games is a real pace, and his production is the clearest sign the supporting cast could get help soon, as Konecny's absence alongside Owen Tippett was a major hit earlier this season.
Couturier is the harder story. The captain-level veteran has 1 goal in 16 games, and he didn't hide his frustration after a third straight loss, as Couturier's comments in Washington showed. A top-line center with that résumé can't sit at 1 goal for long.
The Flyers can't keep asking two players to carry the offense. Rick Tocchet has shuffled lines to find balance, and the sheet says it hasn't produced it yet.
The opponent makes it harder. Minnesota is 10-3-3, fourth in the NHL and first in the Central Division, with 52 goals for and 36 against. Daniel Briere's team will not get many easy chances against that defense.
If Michkov and Zegras get checked tonight, the question is whether Martone, Dvorak, Couturier, Cates and Konecny can fill the gap. Philadelphia's record at home is 3-3-3, so the margin for error is thin once puck drop arrives.
