Riding the high of Saturday’s emotional win, the Flyers picked up their second consecutive wins for the first time since mid-December. Let’s wrap on all the sights and sounds of the game:
Noah Knows How
Noah Cates picked up both the game-tying and go-ahead goals in this game and generally played well. The 25-year-old, do-it-all forward has 14 points in his 15 games and since flanking Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink, has been one of the club’s better producers. Moreover, it looks as if he’s earned the trust of his coaches, as Cates was one of the forwards out there in the final minute when the Panthers had the goalie pulled.
“I think situational hockey and situational awareness is something I’ve done my whole career,” Cates said. “Maybe not being the best skater, I just got to use my brain and defend hard in those situations.”
According to NHL stats, Cates becomes the fourth Flyers skater in the past 20 years to score a game-tying and go-ahead goal in the third period. The Minnesota native joins Brayden Schenn (2016), Claude Giroux (2013) and R.J. Umberger (2006) in this category.
“I could stand here all night and talk to you about Noah,” Garnet Hathaway said of his teammate. “Maybe he’s an old soul in the way that he approaches it, I’m just really happy for him.”
Electrified
We saw both the worse and best of the Flyers man advantage in the win. In the first period, Jamie Drysdale threw an errant pass along the blueline that Sam Reinhart jumped on for a break the other way. Travis Konecny was on the opposite point and retreated to defend Reinhart, but the Panthers forward went to work on Konecny, blowing by him before beating Sam Ersson top shelf for the shorthanded marker.
Later, however, the Flyers regrouped on the man advantage and teamed up for two powerplay goals.
“If you look at one of the powerplays, we just make the puck work,” John Tortorella said. “We don’t hold onto it, we don’t just dust it off. When we start being deliberate with it, we turn it over.”
According to Kevin Kurz, this is the first time in the John Tortorella-Rocky Thompson regime that the Flyers have had multiple power play goals in back to back games.
Better late than never, I suppose.
Ersson Does It
Subsequently, Flyers goaltender Sam Ersson also struggled early in the game. He finished the came with 20 saves and did have have a few pucks go through him. Ersson, nonetheless, came up clutch when the Flyers needed, making several great saves in the final frame that you can see above.
“That save he made in the third period, just goes to show his competitiveness,” Travis Sanheim of his goaltender.
Obviously, goaltending has been a sight for sore eyes this season. The Flyers need one of the three netminders on the roster to begin producing. At this time, it appears Ersson has inside track to do so.
“Enough is enough with goaltending,” Tortorella said. “They need to be better and I hope Ers is trying to make a statement there.”
They Said It
Noah Cates on beating the defending Stanley Cup Champions: “Just a resilient effort. Two wins in a row, a good team like that, we just got to keep it rolling.”
Garnet Hathaway on his big hit on Niko Mikkola to begin the second period: “It’s a nice bit of confidence for our line. I think we take a lot of pride in trying to create energy and shifting momentum.”
Morgan Frost on what was said in the locker-room between periods: “We had a talk in here obviously. That first period was pretty dead. We weren’t moving our feet, we weren’t moving the puck very quick so we definitely heard a couple things.”
Did You Know?
Per NHL stats, Panthers star Sam Reinhart’s shorthanded goal in the first period made history. He now joins former Flyers captain Mike Richards as the second player in the last 20 years to score five or more shorthanded goals in consecutive seasons. Richards scored five shorthanded goals in 2007-2008 and seven in 2008-2009 for Philly.
On Deck
Quick turnaround for the Flyers as they’ll head out to Columbus for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast locally on NBCSP plus.
