When the Philadelphia Flyers lost Vincent Lecavalier to injury on November 30, there was concern that the team would again struggle to score goals like it did early in the season. That has not turned out to be the case, however, as the new top line of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Michael Raffl has been very effective for Philadelphia.
Raffl is the biggest surprise of the group. The 26-year-old Austrian rookie had only one assist while playing on the fourth line earlier this season. But in nine games since joining the new first line, Raffl has scored two goals and accumulated eight points.
Meanwhile, Giroux has five goals and 12 points since Lecavalier's injury and has now scored at least one point in his last five games, while Voracek has added seven goals and 13 points.
Best of all, the Flyers have a winning record without Lecavalier, collecting at least a point in six of nine games while pulling above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
One thing Raffl adds to the lineup that the Flyers needed badly is speed. Voracek told Chris Pawling of the South Jersey Times, "He’s got good ...
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Article written by Brad Kurtzberg
How Philadelphia Flyers’ Top Line Has Been Improving Without Vincent Lecavalier
December 19th, 2013 by Brad Kurtzberg Leave a reply »
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