Rick Tocchet made an unusual bet on Monday night, and for one game at least, it looked smart.
With Owen Tippett out for a second straight game and Tyson Foerster also unavailable, the Flyers needed a solution beside Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak on what functioned as their top line. Tocchet went with Noel Acciari, a choice that probably wouldn’t have been many fans’ first guess. But the veteran gave Philadelphia exactly the kind of edge the coach was looking for.
“It was just our game plan tonight,” Tocchet explained after the game. “You’re playing a high-powered team like that, you need to have some kind of lines that can shut those guys down a little bit. You’re never going to shut them down, but I thought - I had a feeling, and I wanted to put the three young guys together, and it worked out.”
Acciari responded with his best outing as a Flyer. He scored his first goal of the season, fired four shots on goal - two-thirds of his total through his first 10 games - and added three hits and two blocked shots. Just as important, he helped handle Nathan MacKinnon and Colorado’s top line.
The matchup numbers back that up. Acciari logged a team-high 16:04 at 5-on-5 against the Avalanche, and while Colorado had the edge in shot attempts 21-12 during those minutes, the Flyers matched them 9-9 in shots on goal, owned the high-danger chances 5-2, and held a 1.32-0.42 edge in expected goals.
Against MacKinnon specifically, Acciari spent 13:10 on the ice. The Flyers actually finished that stretch with more shots on goal, 8-7, and Colorado’s only 5-on-5 goal with MacKinnon on the bench.
It was the kind of performance that deserved credit. Tocchet took a risk, Acciari played his role, and the Flyers got the kind of result they needed against a difficult opponent. Still, that doesn’t mean it has to become the new normal.
Colorado’s roster is unusually top-heavy, even if the Avalanche do have a strong second line. That makes this a tricky test case for Tocchet.
The coach can keep leaning on Acciari, or he can use the opportunity to give a younger player a shot with more upside. If Tippett and Foerster remain out, that choice will matter again soon.
One of the younger options already got his chance, and Cole Knuble may have boosted his case even more than anyone else. Knuble and Alex Bump were both called up before the game and skated with Denver Barkey on one of the league’s youngest lines. With Tippett and Foerster sidelined, Bump looked like a possible candidate to jump into the top six after his scoring tear in the AHL.
But Knuble made a strong first impression in his NHL debut, and Tocchet made sure to praise him afterward. The Flyers’ coach also got to witness a small franchise footnote, as Knuble and his father, Mike Knuble, became the first father-son duo to play for the Flyers in franchise history.
“He’s a fast player. It’s something we need.
We need some fast players,” Tocchet said. “There were two times when the puck was inside our blue line, they were about to get it, he got it.
That was unreal. If he doesn’t get that out and they keep it in, who knows what happens.
It’s happened this year where the other team’s kept the puck in, and they get zone time. He got those two out, critical plays.
“Obviously, when he takes it to the net with his speed and crashes into the goalie, he’s got courage. So his speed and his hockey IQ.”
That kind of debut can change the conversation. Knuble was already one of the Flyers’ most noticeable players in training camp, and maybe the most noticeable considering the expectations around him.
He doesn’t project as a top-line winger, and even a top-six spot feels like a stretch. But his speed and energy give him a real chance to become a useful third-line winger with the right linemates, and that could still matter for Philadelphia in the near term.
The Flyers now head to Buffalo looking for a third straight win on Wednesday night. After that, they return home for a Saturday matinee against the Anaheim Ducks.
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