The center has sat out so many games over the past couple seasons, he’s just grateful when he’s back in action again.
Such was the case for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Wells Fargo Center.
After sitting out three straight games and four of the last five, Frost was just happy to not make any mistakes in the Flyers’ come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win.
“It’s really nice to be out there battling with my teammates again,” Frost said after the game. “Hopefully build from there.”
After finishing strong last season, Frost is off to another slow start. He has only one goal 17 games.
He became a bit of an expert when it came to working on his game last season. He was scratched for 10 of those matches.
What’s he working on this year?
“Trying not to do too much,” he said. “Honestly, I think right away when you get taken out of the lineup it’s frustrating. It’s easy to get frustrated, get down on yourself.
“But I think over the last couple days it’s been reenergizing mentally for me. I feel like I’m in a really good spot mentally. I was really excited to play today. Just grateful to be playing in this league, so there’s no point in getting down about it.”
From the mental side of it, the trick is to try to stay upbeat.
“I think I’ve got a really good support group around me,” he said. “This team is so amazing. Everyone has my back. Not that I’m satisfied with that. I want to score some points and contribute.”
Coach John Tortorella gave Frost good marks for his first game back.
“In the first period, I don’t know if he created a whole bunch but he was diligent defensively,” the coach said. “He had some good sticks. The biggest thing for me is I just want him to compete.
“If he competes, his offense will flourish. He just kind of gets caught. . .I just don’t think there’s enough competitiveness. That’s what I want out of him, then other things will fall in place for him.”>Cates finally scores
Center Noah Cates finally got on the scoresheet, registering his first goal of the season after 17 games.
“I went down to him afterward and said, ‘you deserved that one,’+” Tortorella said. “Because he’s done a lot, he’s probably one of our better players defensively. Stick on puck, he’s made some really big plays. I bounced him all over the place. I’m happy he scored.”
Cates seems to have found a temporary home with Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee, but that could change any minute the way personnel is being moved around.
“I’ve just tried to play consistently the right way,” said Cates, who sat on the bench when the season got underway. “It kind of hasn’t been going in for me up until today so it doesn’t change anything but having some confidence – seeing one go in is nice.”
