With Foerster down, likely for the season, the spotlight is on Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, and Bobby Brink to step up.
Nick Tricome
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Tag: Travis Konecny
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Flyers thoughts: Tyson Foerster’s surgery leaves a lot for other Philly forwards to make up for
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Flyers thoughts: About that overturned goal, Sanheim’s minutes, and no Michkov in OT
The Flyers are 0-1-1 to start the year after Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to Carolina in overtime, but not without some early controversy.
See, the Flyers won initially, or at least they thought.
Just within the final minute of OT, Trevor Zegras carried the puck into the offensive zone, made a move, then slipped a pass to Travis Sanheim crashing in.
Sanheim, with speed, took the puck and cut around the Carolina defenders across the top of the crease. Goaltender Frederik Andersen pushed up to disrupt Sanheim, but as he did, the puck rolled straight to the stick of Bobby Brink, who took an extra glide across and fired home the winner.
Andersen took issue with the sequence, though, and after review, the officials sided with him. They waved off the goal for goaltender interference on Sanheim. The Hurricanes took it the other way and scored for the win soon after.
It’s what it is.
“It’s in the situation room. At that point, you usually don’t get an explanation,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “It’s a tough call. Yeah, been on the right side of those and the wrong side of them, so I really don’t have a comment on it.”
But here’s the other way it looks: There is contact between Sanheim, as the puck carrier, and Andersen at the top of the crease, which starts the goaltender interference conversation. However, Andersen appears to initiate the contact by punching his glove out to disrupt Sanheim, and commits to playing him while not registering where the puck actually is until it’s too late, as this replay captured by Nasty Knuckles producer Travis Ballinghoff shows:
The NHL Situation Room explanation on the play and its ruling to disallow the goal, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman:
That seems like a lot of onus on Sanheim when it’s pretty plain to see that Andersen made a decision on a move that pulled him out of his crease.
Even if he wasn’t touched, his slide carried him to the left post as Brink was striding across to the right. Andersen never would’ve had a chance at stopping that shot in any scenario.
But hey, it’s the call the league made, and it’s two games into the season. It’s what it is.
“Just trying to make a play to net,” Sanheim said. “I guess incidental contact. Felt like he kind of pushed his arms out, too. It was kind of ‘I have to make a play’ as well, and when I see it, I don’t think he was ever getting back, even if I don’t touch him. So tough call.
“Obviously, it’s not the refs, it’s the league that decided that, so it’s unfortunate and we have to live with it.”
It’s what it is.
A few other quick thoughts on the Flyers…
Here’s a Tipp
The Flyers opened the scoring Saturday night in the first period’s final seconds, and while on the power play.
Travis Konecny fired a shot that ricocheted off the glass behind the Carolina net that took a perfect bounce right back to the front for Owen Tippett to pot home.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead into the intermission, Tippett had his first goal of the year, and the Flyers had their first power play goal of the year.
And those latter two facts might be key.
The power play has been abysmal the past few years, but in the sequence shown in the clip above, it moved pretty fluidly with Trevor Zegras handling the puck in the middle of the Flyers’ setup and drawing attention. It left Konecny alone at the wall with plenty of space to move in and pick his spot.
The bounce to Tippett is a bit of luck, but you do need to be in the right place, right time to score more often than not, and he was right where he needed to be.
The Flyers need to be better this year on the man advantage, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, and they could really use Tippett getting back to scraping up against or even breaking the 30-goal mark after struggling through long droughts of inconsistency last season.
Saturday night was only one case, but a promising one for both.
A lot of skating for Sanheim
The Flyers had to submit their opening night roster with Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen both sidelined, and right away, their defense looked concerningly thin without them.
So far, it’s easy to see the strain. You just have to look at Travis Sanheim’s minutes.
Thursday night against Florida, he skated 27:15, and then Saturday night with the overtime period, he totaled 29:34 with 38 shifts taken.
The Flyers have been leaning heavily on their top defenseman in the early going. He’s handled it, and scored the tying goal to push Saturday night into overtime, but they still have 80 more games.
They need some defensive depth to balance themselves out.
Never miss a beat
It’s early, and the Flyers have the benefit of a grace period to fully get acclimated with new head coach Rick Tocchet.
The rough patches have been there through the first two games, but the line of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink? That trio hasn’t seemed to miss a beat.
They put together the sequence that led to the Flyers’ lone goal in the loss to Florida on Thursday night, and Saturday night, they were all over the ice.
Brink scored in the second period off some strong play along the wall from him, Cates, and Nikita Grebenkin before the latter winger hopped off for a change:
Then in overtime, Brink had the puck, the space, and the extra step inside for the OT winner before it was overturned, while throughout the night, it felt like if a Hurricane had the puck, Cates was instantly bearing down on them.
There’s no quit in that line, and out of the gate, they’ve been chaos for the opposition. Pretty safe to say they’re staying together.
Where was Matvei?
When the Flyers went into OT, Matvei Michkov didn’t see the ice.
Last season, through all the ups and downs for the rookie, it was clear immediately that he can fly with the extra ice available to him at 3-on-3, and rise to the occasion, too, with three overtime winners.
But Tocchet didn’t send him out. Why?
“Just wanted the guys I thought were skating,” Tocchet said.
Michkov has been mostly quiet through the first two games, which maybe lends to Tocchet’s point – though the winger did get scrappy with the Hurricanes after a hit on Konecny with his back turned.
Even so, the counterargument is that you want your best offensive skaters out there in OT, so Michkov’s usage under Tocchet might be an early point to monitor.
Granted, we’re still only two games in.
For now, it’s what it is.
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Nick Tricome
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3s are Wild: let’s hand out our 3-Stars following Week 3 for the Flyers. – Philadelphia Sports Nation
Let’s look back at the past week for the Flyers, and we’ll hand out our 3-Star selections.
Game 8: Flyers at Capitals (10/23/2024) // Flyers 3, Capitals 6
Ivan Fedotov got the start in this one and it didn’t go to plan, where he made 19 saves of 23 shots (.826 SV%). The Capitals struck first within the first six minutes of the game on a deflected shot. Then, the Capitals struck early in the 2nd period, shortly after killing off a penalty to go up 2-0 on the Flyers. Just 1 minute and 15 seconds later, following a miscue by the Flyers led to a breakaway and the Caps were up by 3. Minutes later, another deflection in front and the Flyers were down by 4 with over half the game still to be played.
Credit the Flyers for not caving completely in this game. TK and Tippett scored before the end of the 2nd to take something positive into the dressing room. The Flyers put up some fight in the 2nd period, putting 17 shots on net, which was positive considering that the middle stanza has been their weak spot this year. Michkov found a way to get a shot from the point through traffic on the Power Play mid-way through the 3rd period and the Flyers had life. The Flyers Power Play was 2 of 4 in this game and this year, gives the Flyers a better chance to get back into games than in the past few years. Unfortunately, the comeback was not in store in this one as the Capitals grabbed two separate empty-net goals to put this one away.
Game 9: Wild at Flyers (10/26/2024) // Flyers 7, Wild 5
Sam Ersson started in net in this game and made 21 saves on 26 shots (.808 SV%). The Flyers Power Play went 1-2 in this one, which is a good sign, in both that the Power Play is operating efficiently, and in this game at least, the Flyers finally got some 5-on-5 scoring.
The captain, Sean Couturier led the team in this one nothing a hat-trick along with 2 goals and a +5 on the night, while also notching his 500th career NHL point in his impressive career. The story in this one was the newly formed top-line TK, Couturier and Michkov, which put up a combined 12 points in roughly 18 minutes of on-ice time, each. Couturier showed that he’s back and feeling good this year and at least for one night, much enjoyed playing with TK and Michkov, especially finding himself on the wing and down in the line-up earlier this month.
Game 9: Canadiens at Flyers (10/27/2024) //Canadiens 4, Flyers 3
Following another tough outing by Fedotov, the Flyers somewhat unexpectedly called up Alexei Kolosov, the 22-year-0ld netminder whom started the season with the Phantoms in the AHL. The young goalie did, in fact, make his first career NHL start where he collected 20 saves on 24 shots (.833%). The Canadiens struck first with 9:18 left in the 1st period, jamming in a rebound out front. Sanheim was able to tie the game late in the 1st period with a shot from the point through a screen. Sadly, the Flyers were down 4-1 by the end of the 2nd period, chasing yet another game. The never-say-die Flyers found two goals from Sanheim and Konecny scoring in the find five minutes, however, again, time-runs out on another comeback attempt this season. Simply put, the Flyers need to find ways to stop chasing games.
Game 10: Flyers at Bruins (10/29/2024) // Flyers 2, Boston 0
This game was a nail-bitter, but perhaps exactly what the doctor ordered. Sam Ersson earned his first shut0ut of the young season, stopping all 25 shots he faced, helping him bring his season save percentage to a .890 SV%. Perhaps the Flyers played the Bruins not firing on all cylinders, yet. Regardless, this Flyers team desperately needed a game they were not chasing, especially within the first 5 minutes. In this tilt, Tyson Foerster got the Flyers on the board just after the five-minute mark. The Flyers locked this one down and Farabee was able to secure the win with the empty net goal.
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PHOTO: Yong Kim / Philadelphia InquirerGame 11: Blues at Flyers (10/31/2024) // Flyers 2, Blues 1
The Flyers kept the momentum rolling
, and for the second game in a row, Sam Ersson grabbed the #1 star of the game, making 21 saves on 22 attempts (.952 SV%). Hathaway scored at 8:48 of the 1st on a beautiful feed by Poehling, following his individual skating and stick-handling exhibition on the play. The Blues scored at just before the midway mark in the 3rd period on a loose rebound into the slot and a lost man in coverage. The Flyers night would be saved with Brink jamming home a rebound in the slot with 3 minutes to go in the game.
Three Stars of the Week
3rd Star: Sean Couturier
What an up and down week of games for the Flyers. With the Flyers desperately needing a win and at home against the Wild, tied at 4 in the 3rd, Couturier picked up a hat-trick and his line put-up a combined 12 points that night. Unfortunately for the Flyers, the only points he scored over the past week, including the three Minnesota game, despite more ice time. However, the Flyers defense, including defensive forwards like Couturier, stepped up and secured two low score wins.
2nd Star: Travis Sanheim
Netting two goals and an assist in a lackluster game against the Canadiens was huge for Sanheim as he tries to get himself going offensively. For the season, through 11 games, he only had 3 goals and 2 assists, but he is a plus 1 +/- and he’s logging huge minutes on the backend of the Flyers, including the aforementioned low-score wins. Sanheim has logged an average 24 minutes on ice this season.
1st Star: Sam Ersson
Prior to this game, Tortorella looked like a coach in search of an answer. Signal Sam Ersson to the rescue. Earning the first star in the game over the past two games tells you almost all you need to know this week for Sam. Sam turned in a desperately needed gem in goal on Tuesday night against Boston. Prior to this game, the Flyers arguably had the worst goaltending league-wide to start the season. Following that shutout win, he turned in another great game against the Blues, at a time this Flyers team needed a few strong games in net. The Minnesota game was wide-open, and it was great to see him tighten things up. Overall, he picked up 3 wins this week that his team sorely needed.
It’s a dynamic league with incredible talents and scoring threats each night. The Flyers are a young team, which them prove nightly. especially on Defense and in the net.
It was good to see the Flyers find a way to tighten up on defense and hold on to some leads. Will it continue?
PHOTO: Yong Kim / Philadelphia Inquirer
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Flyers outlast Devils, 1-0, keep playoff hopes alive
The Philadelphia Flyers are still alive.
Travis Konecny took off and scored shorthanded as they recaptured their magic on the penalty kill and he claimed his 400th career NHL point. Sam Ersson, on a second wind, stood tall in net for the second straight game to notch a 20-save shutout, and his teammates – with a little luck and tons of shot-blocking – did enough in front of him to steer the chaos away to until the final horn to beat the New Jersey Devils, 1-0.
There’s one game left now, the odds are still slim, and the Flyers’ fate is in others’ hands as they await the Capitals on Tuesday night for their regular season finale.
But they’re still alive. That snowball is still flying through hell.
“We played to get our game to Tuesday to mean something, so that’s all we have to be concerned about,” head coach John Tortorella said.
The Flyers’ play in the first period matched that of a team still with a chance, carrying over from Thursday night’s shot in the arm against the Rangers up in New York.
They carried and cycled the puck, gradually picked up in jamming the Devils through the neutral zone, and heavily controlled the tempo in select spots. But despite a few good looks and decent chances, they left the opening frame with nothing to show for it, and with a few close calls that nearly bit them had Ersson not stepped up for the big save or had the defense in front of him not have been able to navigate the scrambles in front to clear away the puck.
It happened early on when Nico Hischier had a clear lane to the net after both Flyers defensemen drew to the puck carrier and let it slip right through across the ice to the New Jersey captain. Ersson cut the angle down, made the initial stop, and when the puck trickled through from underneath his pads, Erik Johnson had luckily recovered enough to be there to send it away to the boards.
Then, late into the period, Flyers back-checkers clung to Dawson Mercer carrying the puck down along the boards, which left Timo Meier all alone peeling off the wall and toward the net on a drop pass. Ersson fought the shot off with his pads and out of play for a break.
Offensively, the Flyers had a major opportunity when the Devils gifted them a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the first.
After Nick Seeler delivered a hard, clean check along the boards to force play the other way, he was tripped up by Erik Haula on the way back up to send the Flyers on the power play. Then, as the Philadelphia was cycling and looking for an opening – much to the growing impatience of the crowd – the puck went into the corner and the stick of Devils defenseman Brenden Smith caught Noah Cates in the face while trying to clear it out.
The Devils were down two for just over a minute, which could’ve set them back in a big way early, but the Flyers’ power play remains the team’s major Achilles heel. They cycled, possessed, another Devil was even skating without a stick at one point. It all went nowhere, again, and the Flyers had to hold the line coming off of another wasted two minutes.
But they generated one more before the period was up. A drop pass from Owen Tippett looping back from within the Flyers’ own zone sent Travis Sahnheim streaking along the boards and back behind the Devils’ net, and when the puck slipped out in front, Bobby Brink was there and circling along the crease with it looking for the opening. Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen didn’t give him one, but that didn’t stop Brink from trying to jam it through, even to the ire of Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler, who all exchanged words and shoves along the boards after the whistle.
“We were fine with, honestly,” defenseman Erik Johnson said of the scoreless first. “It was low event. For us, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when we’ve been struggling to really score outside of the Ranger game before that.
“So we were fine with it. We were OK with the game we were playing, and they didn’t have a ton of chances…It’s the type of game we wanted to play and had to play to give ourselves a chance.”
The back and forth carried into the second, but the Devils looked to have caught a break when Cam Atkinson was tagged for a hold midway through. Instead, the Flyers found a way back to a part of their game that, at one point in the season, there was no one else better than.
Nick Seeler took a swat at the puck between the circles in their own zone and it found its way over to the stick of Scott Laughton across the blue line. Konecny saw it and was off to the races, springing past everyone as Laughton chipped a feed over to send him straight to the net.
Konecny was all alone and the shot had Kahkonen beat. 1-0, Flyers, a crucial swing in momentum, and on the back of a penalty kill unit that they needed to wreak havoc again.
“Well, I think the biggest part was [Seeler] thought Laughts was gonna get it,” Johnson, who was paired with Seeler on the PK, said of the sequence postgame. “Laughts took off and Seels was like ‘Ohhh god, I better get this or they might get a chance.’ So me and Seels thought Laughty was gonna get it, but he took off reading the play and then Seels was right there and made a good play. TK and Laughts finished it off, but to get a shorty and get the momentum in our favor, especially to score first, it was big for us.”
“That play could blow up on us,” added Tortorella. “A backhand through the middle of the ice to TK going down, it gets through, but if it doesn’t, it could be in the back of our net. But [associate coach Brad Shaw] runs it that way. He wants them to go for it. They’ve had a connection with this all year long, and TK’s a guy that there were some struggles with him prior to these couple of games. He’s played so well to give us a chance here. And that’s one guy we talk about learning to play in these games. He certainly has taken a huge step in trying to help us stay alive.”
But they were far from in the clear.
The score held going into the third, chances kept exchanging, but then. Konecy got another jump flying up the wall with tons of space and time. He tried to cut in toward the net, but New Jersey’s Kevin Bahl held him down to break up the scoring threat, giving the Flyers the gift and the curse of another man advantage.
Tippett nearly broke everything open, skating straight through everyone on an end-to-end rush, but once he was free for the shot, he sailed it wide, knowing he had it right there with a frustrated shout skating back to the bench for a change. The Flyers maintained control of the puck, but again, the power play went nowhere.
They had to cling on to that 1-0 lead, and did absolutely everything in their power to as New Jersey continually pressed with the clock ticking. They sold out on blocked shots, Sean Couturier won some critical defensive zone faceoffs late, Ersson had to keep hanging in there in goal, and when the Devils pulled Kahkonen with just over two minutes left, they buckled down to keep a grip on the puck and steer New Jersey clear just long enough for them to run out of time.
And to keep the Flyers’ faint, but still breathing, playoff hopes alive.
“This stretch that we had probably came at the worst time,” Laughton said. “Couldn’t pick up a couple extra points there, which would’ve been huge at this time, but we’re not looking back. We’re looking forward. We continue to compete and guys are playing for each other – we have all year. We’re gonna try and get in here. Huge game coming up…
“Little bit of scoreboard watching, too.”
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Five thoughts: Flyers thrash Jets, are remembering ‘how good they can be’
Yeah, the Flyers really needed the All-Star break.
Following up Tuesday night’s big win over the Florida Panthers and making the return home, Philadelphia took off from the word go and had the visiting Winnipeg Jets out of time and out of options by Thursday night’s halfway point.
Tyson Foerster notched the opening tally, Travis Konecny registered a Gordie Howe hat trick, and Ryan Poehling sniped yet another shorthanded goal as the Flyers thrashed the Jets, 4-1, for their second straight victory and a season sweep of a pretty fierce Western Conference opponent.
They’re 27-19-6 now, still third in the Metro division with 60 points, and appear back to playing some solid hockey. Well, for the most part.
Here are five thoughts from Thursday night’s effort…
How good they can be
Coming back from an All-Star break that they had already ridden a five-game losing streak into, the Flyers returned to the ice against Florida Tuesday night and looked completely flat.
They were passive and skating cautious. “Safe” was the word head coach John Tortorella would go on to use, but then they came out for the second period and it was like a switch flipped. They got aggressive, they controlled the puck, they committed to their checking away from it, and shut a good Panthers team down the rest of the way.
They looked like the team that absolutely dismantled the Dallas Stars a few weeks ago, and the team that for much of this season, has caught everyone off guard and put themselves into a playoff spot two-thirds of the way through.
Then they kept it going right from puck drop Thursday night back at home against the Jets.
Poehling and Foerster flew down the ice to complete a one-time play just shy of four minutes in for the 1-0 lead – Foerster’s 10th goal of the season – checks got thrown by orange sweaters with purpose, and Winnipeg in general just spent the bulk of the opening frame pinned down in their own zone until Konecny and Morgan Frost broke the wall down themselves to make it 3-0.
The Flyers floored it on the gas. And the Jets, like the Panthers a couple of nights before, didn’t know what to do.
“I think for our athletes we need to get some sort of swagger back, some confidence, and they should feel really good about it,” Tortorella said after Tuesday night’s 2-1 win down in Florida. “I went in there after the second period and I said ‘Are you s****in’ me? That’s how we play! Do you understand how good we can be when we play that way?’ Hopefully they gained some confidence and just be consistent. The key for us is to try – in games, within the game and then game to game – is to sustain our personality.
“That’s our battle. It’s gonna be our battle all through here. We’re gonna keep working at it.”
So far so good after Thursday night, though it’s worth noting too that Tortorella had markedly shorter answers in his postgame press conference following the Jets win and that Konecny noted that the last two periods – when the Flyers arguably let up a bit – needed to be improved on.
“We made a point of coming at them right away and trying to get a lead,” Konecny said from the locker room. “I think we really need to – not even look back on the first period. We need to assess the last two and really make sure we stay on top of things.”
Pionk poked the bear
Or the beehive. Either way, Konecny made sure he regretted it.
Right after Foerster’s opening goal, Konecny had the puck in the offensive zone and chipped it away with the Jets’ Neal Pionk right in front of him and nowhere else to go. Pionk moved in for the check and threw his hands up high, catching Konecny’s face.
Konecny took exception, shoves were exchanged, and then the gloves flew off.
Now, Konecny and Pionk don’t particularly stand out as fighters – as much of an agitator as Konecny can be – but they’ve been in a few before. Konecny had the edge in this one with a takedown that had the crowd roaring.
Then he really poured salt in the wound late in the period when he shot a loose puck off Pionk in front of the net and in.
“Just get it to the net,” Konecny said of what he was looking for in the sequence. “It was kinda rolling, I wanted to one-touch it to the far side. Lucky bounce.”
To top it off: an assist on Frost’s goal from another scramble in front to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick before the first was even over.
An angry Travis Konecny is a dangerous Travis Konecny, and with the way this season has been going for him – he’s now up to 24 goals and 45 points for the year – he will make you pay.
Pionk found out quick.
“I wasn’t trying to fight for any reason, it just kinda happened,” Konecny said. “I mean it is what it is. Maybe it sparked us, I’m not sure.”
Another shorty
Konecny got called for a hook early into the second period, and so came an opportunity for the Jets to try and get themselves back into this.
Then Ryan Poehling got the puck thanks to a major Winnpeg miscue off the defensive zone draw and it was off to the races.
Beautiful shot, the Flyers’ 11th shorthanded goal on the season – tying them for the league lead – and Poehling’s second for himself on the year.
The power play is still in the basement – 31st in the league entering Thursday night at 13.2 percent – but the Flyers’ penalty kill? The NHL’s second-best unit at an 85.4 percent success rate, and one that can and will punish you.
They did it again to the Jets Thursday night, which almost begs the question of who the man advantage is really for.
Ersson’s net
Samuel Ersson is the No. 1 goalie now.
Carter Hart has been effectively wiped from the team now that he’s confirmed to be facing a sexual assault charge tied to the 2018 Hockey Canada scandal. Officially, he’s still on his indefinite leave of absence, but his locker stall is gone at the Flyers’ training center in Voorhees, PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor noted earlier Thursday, and so is his nameplate within the locker room at the Wells Fargo Center. He has also been cut out of the team’s home intro video.
The matter is serious, highly sensitive, and one that hockey has to be a far secondary to.
But the Flyers still have to go out and play, and they’re going to be counting on Ersson from here on out to take the bulk of the starts.
He was stellar after the first goal allowed Tuesday night in Florida, and was big again Thursday night against Winnipeg with some major saves throughout – 28 in total – aside from Kyle Connor’s goal late.
“Thank goodness we had him tonight,” Konecny said postgame. “I’m not sure if it was the lead that early that kind of shut us down, but if it wasn’t for him, I think they claw back in it there. We gotta fix that.”
At this point, it seems pretty clear that the Flyers needed the All-Star break badly, but Ersson just as much.
He’s looked much sharper compared to a couple of weeks ago when the gauntlet of the schedule the team had looked like it was catching up with everyone, and like a netminder now braced for carrying the workload the rest of the way.
“I think everybody maybe needed a little bit of a mental break from hockey,” Ersson said.
There’s still a lot of season left, sure, and Cal Petersen is going to have to take a few starts down the stretch eventually. But hopefully, Ersson is back to the level of play that had earned him a 50-50 share of the starts by January, and that he can sustain it.
“We knew how important this part of the season is,” Ersson added. “Everything steps up another notch. We have to do it as well if we want to be a part of the playoff picture.”
Cates’ case
Noah Cates had the secondary assist on Foerster’s opening goal with a quick touch pass along the defensive half boards that sprung Foerster and Poehling up the ice.
It was a solid play that followed up his game-winning goal Tuesday night against the Panthers, and hopefully, it’s something that is building toward a much better home stretch for the two-way forward who has struggled with inconsistency this season.
Cates established himself as a regular NHLer last season thanks to being a dependable middle-bottom six center in the faceoff circle and relentless commitment to checking that eventually contributed to a good bit of offensive production too.
But this season, the results haven’t been the same. He wasn’t as effective on draws, he could only manage a single goal that came in late October, and a broken foot robbed him of some significant time, including all the time it took to get his feet fully back under him.
But coming back from the break, he has looked solid taking the wing on the third line with Poehling and Foerster, and just missed on a juicy scoring chance midway through the third to pile on Thursday night.
After Tuesday’s win against Florida, Cates acknowledged that he needed time and a bit of a mental reset from the All-Star break to wipe the slate clean.
Now the games are in playoff mode as he described it, and he wants to factor into the Flyers seeing this last push through.
“I want to be a part of that,” Cates said. “I want to be a part of helping this team.”
Flyers prospects: Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey are surging for London
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DeAngelo caps Flyers rally for 4-3 OT win over Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tony DeAngelo scored 1:10 into overtime to complete Philadelphia’s rally from two goals down in the third period as the Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Thursday night.
The Flyers tied the game with 2:05 to play in regulation after pulling the goalie when Travis Konecny’s shot deflected off a San Jose defenseman and into the net for his second goal of the game.
Philadelphia won it when Ivan Provorov set up DeAngelo in transition for the tap-in goal.
Owen Tippett also scored for the Flyers in their first game of a three-game California swing. Samuel Ersson made 25 saves to earn his first win in his second career start.
Tomas Hertl scored twice for San Jose, and Erik Karlsson had two assists to become the fastest defenseman to 50 points in more than 30 years. Kevin Labanc also scored.
Karlsson assisted on the first goal by Hertl and Labanc’s goal to extend his points streak to 11 games and give him 50 points in San Jose’s 37th game of the season — the fastest for a defenseman since Al MacInnis did it in 35 games for Calgary in 1990-91.
Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves and is winless in his last four starts since shutting out Montreal on Nov. 29.
The teams traded goals within a 47-second span midway through the first period, with Karlsson setting up Hertl in the slot to open the scoring for San Jose.
Karlsson is now one game shy of the franchise record 12-game point streak held by Rob Gaudreau (1992-93) and Jonathan Cheechoo (2005-06).
The Flyers answered quickly when Konecny deflected a point shot from DeAngelo for his 16th goal after Philadelphia won an offensive zone faceoff.
Hertl got the lead back for San Jose in the second when he took a pass on the power play from Timo Meier and redirected it for his 13th goal of the season.
Labanc provided some insurance with his goal early in the third before Tippett answered for the Flyers.
INJURY REPORT
Flyers goalie Carter Hart made the trip after being placed on IR with a concussion. He is expected to play later on the road trip.
Sharks defenseman Matt Benning was scratched after blocking a shot with his skate while killing a penalty on Tuesday night. Radim Simek returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Visit Los Angeles on Saturday.
Sharks: Visit Dallas on Saturday night.
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