You can imagine the tingles that went up the bodies of Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Nik Ehlers, argubaly the best line in the NHL right now, when they heard that Flyers second year defence man Shayne Gostisbehere will sit to make room for Andrew MacDonald.
As the twittersphere took note the first response was from Dan Petriw "is there a traffic cone emoji for Amac?"
Now remember that Gostisbehere was the Philadelphia Pro Athlete of the Year last year, now he's a healthy scratch? Let's say that it's not a move that is popular or even understood by the Flyers' faithful.
As for the Jets what comes now is opportunity. Playing with confidence can be a good thing but being over confident can be dangerous. Over confidence has to be a concern coming of the 4-0 win at home against Chicago as you head out on a road trip to the east coast.
The Jets are taking more than a few of their walking wounded on the trip including Little and Stafford along with Perreault. Could any of them see the ice during this five game trip? It's possible and my bet is on Bryan Little being the first if he's healthy. Little comes with a level of respect, production and role with the team that can't simply be dismissed. The fact that he only saw ice time for a brief bit in the first period of the first game this season means there's something not complete with this roster despite how well the team is playing.
Little only makes the team better but the other players, particularly the ones on call-up, have to see the reality of the situation- Little is a better two way player than any other Jets centre right now. That skill-set and strength is something coaches should not ignore. Now seeing that there is a top line that is rolling in with 55, 29 and 27 Little can help take some of the tougher draws particularly in the defensive zone.
Still, should Stafford or Perreault return too, expect the line blender to go as well as Maurice looks to integrate players while still dealing with injuries and new found chemistry.
Tonight though is an opportunity, but no different than any other game. The Jets have to execute their game plan and follow through on the simple things they have done recently that has created scoring chances, goals and wins.
Take the Laine goal against Chicago some players would have stood back and watch Byfuglien do his thing but Laine finished his route and scored the goal because his job was to get there to support the rushing player. When Dano and Petan combined for the fourth goal the same thing happened as both players followed through with the play, they did not deviate from the course of action to getting the puck on net.
That simple yet often overlooked or over-thought tactic has to be in play tonight as the Jets face an imposing team. Sure Gostisbehere is not in but that does not man that Giroux, Couturier, Simmonds or Voracek are taking the night off. The Flyers have a skilled and dangerous team and some could argue that they are underperforming so far this season.
The Flyers have played one game less than the Jets but are only two points behind. Where there is some difference is the goal differential. In fact in one less game the Flyers have scored 3 more goals than the Jets but allowed 12 more. It's not a cake walk by any chance even if one of the better defenders in the league is sitting and the Jets should be aware of that.