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Ek on Flyers: Are the Flyers a Better and Faster Team without Couturier? |
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I was talking to a Flyers fan this morning, and he asked me the question: Are the Flyers a better and faster team without Sean Couturier in the lineup?
There’s no question that last night the Flyers had one of their biggest wins of the season and managed to skate right with the New Jersey Devils, who are one of the fastest teams in the league. They did take advantage of some early, subpar goaltending by Jake Allen for certain, but they looked really good throughout the game as New Jersey pushed them hard.
That said, my answer to that question is: No. Absolutely not.
The reason the Flyers won last night was that they got probably the best performance of Sam Ersson’s career… and a big reason they needed that performance was the lack of Couturier. It’s easy to miss what Sean does on the ice since so much of it is defensive-minded…. But he is their best defensive player… hands-down.
Sean has also developed a lot of chemistry with Matvei Michkov recently. As we saw last night, without Couturier,Michkov was not nearly as visible on the ice as he has been the past few games. I love that he plays with Sean because he gets to learn the game by example on the ice. So important, especially to a Russian player who still learning the language. Also, it’s easy to forget that Sean was drafted for his offensive abilities. Matvei looks up to him for sure.
Couts is vital to this team . Last night, the Flyers flat out stole one.
If you play that same game 10 ttimes,the Devils would’ve won eight.
What is your opinion on this?
Tomorrow, I’ll be attacking the trade deadline … I’m talking to some Philly sources ttonight,and I should have a very good grasp on where they are at tomorrow…
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