PHILADELPHIA – On a roster sporting proven scorers such as Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett and Sean Couturier, the Flyers’ new current headliners are the trio of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink.
This was demonstrated again on Tuesday night as Cates produced two goals, while Foerster and Brink had one each in a 6-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was the Flyers’ third straight victory and evened their record at 26-26-7.
The Penguins entered the game having lost their previous three games by a margin of 16-8. So it was easy to see why their porous defense is keeping them in the Metropolitan Division basement. They are a rather embarrassing minus-49 for the season.
While the Flyers didn’t gain any ground in their chase for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, they at least held their ground at five points back.
Cates and Brink, who finished with a career-high four points (goal, three assists), were all smiles after this one.
One gets the sense this threesome is as close off the ice as they are on it.
Proof of that: They constantly text each other to go over hockey stuff and other matters.
“We’ve got a little chat goin’,” said Cates, who ended a 12-game goal drought. “Who we’re playing, what we’re seeing in the game. Just talkin’, playing hard for each other. We’ve been together for a while (Nov. 25 vs. Vegas). They play so hard for me, blocking shots. I don’t want to let them down, I want to stay with them.”
Brink, a former NCAA Division I scoring champion, was all over the ice in this particular game. Every shift the puck seemed to find his stick.
“I mean, I think we’ve strung a couple good games together,” he said. “Tonight the bounces just went our way. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.
“We (all the players) are getting healthy, we’re getting some of the key pieces to our lineup back. And it’s showing in the results. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves here, we’re going to take it a game at a time.”
Coach John Tortorella had to tip his hat to the work of this line, which averages barely 24 years of age.
“Bobby Brink, it’s good to see him get rewarded,” the coach said. “Hasn’t scored a whole bunch. But he’s really worked at the other parts of his game. That line just gets rewarded tonight.”
Cates, the oldest of the bunch at 26, has evolved into a quiet leader. That could be why Tortorella trusted him to check against superstar Sidney Crosby, who was held without a point.
“I think they (the Cates line members) have embraced that role,” Tortorella said. “And I think they’ve all kind of bought into not only checking but creating some offense.”
The Flyers broke the game open with three straight goals late in the second period.
After the Penguins had trimmed the Flyers’ 2-0 lead with a goal from Philip Tomasino at 6:09, the Flyers came roaring back.
Foerster began the scoring parade by finishing off a pass from defenseman Jamie Drysdale at 11:55.
Then Cates and Brink went to work.
First, Brink jammed the net, allowing Cates to poke a shot past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic at 18:55. Just 10 seconds after the ensuing face-off, Cates returned the favor, finding Brink unguarded at the goalmouth.
It was all Flyers in the first period, with the home team rolling to a 2-0 lead and a 13-7 edge in shots.
Rasmus Ristolainen kicked things off by converting on a play which saw Matvei Michkov and Egor Zamula figure on the assists. Ristolainen skated to the left circle and beat Alex Nedeljkovic for his fourth goal of the season at 3:56.
On his second goal, Cates converted a pass from Brink off the rush to make it 2-0 at 12:19.
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson picked up the win in goal for the Flyers. He’s allowed just six goals in three straight victories.
In the third period, Owen Tippett scored his third goal in the last two games for the Flyers’ five-goal lead.
>Michkov nears NHL lead
Michkov recorded two assists in the game, giving him 41 points and moving him within one point of the NHL rookie points lead. The young Russian said he likes to set up goals almost as much as he likes to score them.
“I like to score more,” Michkov said through an interpreter. “But because if a partner is in a better position, I would feed him the good pass. Most important for me is if the team wins. But of course I want to score.”
Michkov entered the night tied for the NHL rookie lead in goals with 17.
>Short shots
The Flyers finish the home-and-home series on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. . .Philadelphia entered the game with 1,058 blocked shots for the season, first in the NHL.
