Moving Lecavalier up to second line could pay dividends for Flyers; Mason to backup Emery tonight

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Despite heading home tonight for Game 3 and tied 1-1 in their first-round playoff series with the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers’ offense could use a boost.

Welcome back to the second line, Vinny Lecavalier.

In an effort to create some more offensive punch, Flyers head coach Craig Berube is moving Lecavalier from the fourth line back to the second line with Bradyen Schenn and Wayne Simmonds for Game 3 tonight at Wells Fargo Center.

In a bit of an added twist, Berube is putting Lecavalier at center on the line and moving Schenn to the wing. The trio played together for much of the season but mostly with Schenn at center and Lecavalier at wing.

It’s a shrewd move by Berube that could really pay off for the Flyers.

The Flyers scored five goals in the two games in New York. But take away Simmonds’ empty-netter from this past Sunday, and just one of those goals was scored by one of the Flyers’ top-six forwards. That was Jake Voracek’s first-period goal on Sunday. The other goals were scored by defensemen Andrew MacDonald and Luke Schenn and a third-line rookie in Jason Akeson.

If the Flyers are going to win this series, they are going to need much more production from their top-six forwards and Berube knows it.

Enter Lecavalier.

The recently-turned 34-year-old finished the regular season with 20 goals, most of which came from his unnatural wing position

Say what you want about him, but Lecavalier can still be a dynamic player on the offensive end of the ice with his booming shot and playmaking abilities. And he’s even better at his natural center position. Albeit on the fourth line, Lecavalier has five goals and three assists in 12 games since being moved back to center on March 28.

The younger Schenn has played plenty of wing before so he shouldn’t be too out of place. Schenn is also in a bit of a slump with just two goals in his last 14 games so maybe playing with a guy like Lecavalier can get him going again.

And before we go any further, yes, the first line of Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Voracek needs to be more productive, too. Some shots on goal from Giroux, who has been held without a shot in both the first two games of the series four of the last six games overall against the Rangers, would be a nice start.

If you followed the Flyers all season, you may know the Lecavalier-Schenn-Simmonds line wasn’t the best line in the world when it came to defense.

Collectively, the group finished the regular season at minus-20 with Lecavalier leading the way at minus-16.

But with the Flyers playing at home for the next two games, Berube gets the last change and can get the trio favorable matchups against some of the Rangers’ weaker defensive players. That way, the line can do what it does best and that’s get the puck deep and go to work in the offensive zone.

Sure, there are going to be times when getting that right matchup for the line won’t be possible. But Berube will be able to get that change that majority of the time. Though there were times Lecavalier moved up, there’s a reason Berube didn’t make the full-time switch at Madison Square Garden.

It also doesn’t hurt that Lecavalier has been a really good playoff performer over his career with 24 goals and 29 assists for 53 points in 65 career playoff games.

If the reformed yet tweaked group of Lecavalier centering Schenn and Simmonds doesn’t work out, the Flyers have the luxury of plenty versatile players that can move up and fit into one of those roles.

But putting them back together with Lecavalier back at center is certainly worth a shot to generate some more offense from the top-six and this is the right time to do it.

Puck drops in just few hours in South Philly. The game will be televised locally on CSN and nationally on CNBC for those of you out of the local viewing area. If you’re going to the game, be loud and see you there.

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Also, in a somewhat unexpected move, the team announced shortly after 5:15 pm that Steve Mason will dress tonight and play the role of Ray Emery's backup. He must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

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