Flyers hand Wild their first regulation loss, win 7-5 in Saturday’s contest

Sean Couturier lit up the scoreboard with a hat trick and set up the game-winner, courtesy of Rasmus Ristolainen, as the Philadelphia Flyers broke their six-game losing skid with a thrilling 7-5 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

The defeat marked Minnesota’s first regulation loss of the season, ending their impressive seven-game point streak to kick off the year.

2 Minute Recap of Flyers win over the Wild

The new top line shines

John Tortorella has been shuffling lines around often this year, which honestly, is expected given the team’s struggles out of the gates this season.

After a failed experiment with Michkov on the left wing, head coach Torts wanted to get Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov back on a line together. That came with now putting Konecny, a primary right-winger, on the left wing for the first time this season.

If Flyers fans were questioning poor line decisions, I am sure they aren’t now.

TK had a whopping four assists in the game, along with a goal of his own.

Michkov also added his first 5-on-5 point of the season, and a goal on a delayed penalty call which gives the Flyers rookie 9 points in 8 games.

Calder SZN: Flyers might be cooked already but Matvei Michkov is confirmed ELITE

Flyers captain Sean Couturier notches his first three goals of the season

Coots, who entered the game with a 32-game goal drought, scored the first one of the game a little more than a minute in, added a second goal on a scrum in front of the net in the third period, and finished off the hat trick with an empty net goal.

Vintage Coots was BACK in this contest. He tallied his 500th career point on the opening score of the game. Couturier also earned two assists, getting points on the Michkov goal and the Rasmus Ristolainen’s game winner.

Ersson Struggles in net, but it did not end up being a problem

Flyers net-minder Sam Ersson definitely had a game he will want flush sooner rather than later, stopping 21 of 26 shots for a save percentage of .808%.

That did not end up being a problem for the Flyers as their surging offense powered them past Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who is among the best goalies in the league.

In the first contest without Jett Luchanko or Cam York, the Flyers still managed to hang on and beat one of the best teams in the league.

Next up for the Flyers

Philly will play a back-to-back, as they host the Montreal Canadiens Sunday at 7:00 pm in the Wells Fargo Center, where it is rumored that we may get our first NHL look at goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov.

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Mandatory credit: Photo by Sergei Belski of Imagn Images

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