Years ago I was in Vegas. After hearing that I was a hockey guy from Philly someone trying to be friendly said “congratulations on winning the Stanley Cup”. I literally had no idea what they were talking about. It didn’t even register. They tried again. “Aren’t you excited The Cup is back in Pennsylvania”? Oh, I never thought of it that way. And NO!
Pundits often say the Flyers Penguins rivalry is not what it once was. Times have changed, the players are different, it’s just not as intense. All of these things are true, but if you’ve been around long enough none of that really matters very much. As a Flyers Fan all of those memories still hold a place deep inside your crawl. When the Penguins come to town you still want to see them get demolished. You want to see a game just like tonight’s.
Philly vs Pittsburgh
The Flyers have scored 12 goals in their last two games. This is basically the same squad that went three consecutive games without scoring a goal earlier this month. You could write off tonight’s six goal game to the fact that the Penguins are currently in a battle for the basement. But the Flyers last six goal game was against one of the best teams in the league. The Flyers beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 this past Saturday afternoon.
Noah Cates played a big role in the offense tonight but you can’t look at these past two games without acknowledging his stand-out defensive performance. Tonight he was shifting against Sidney Crosby, Saturday it was Connor McDavid. Both managed only two shots on goal and neither found their way onto the score sheet.
Flyers starting goaltender Samuel Ersson has been playing some great hockey since the holiday break. He beat Team USA in his only 4 Nations appearance allowing only one goal. He allowed just one goal again tonight.
Rasmus Ristolainen opened up the scoring for the Flyers with a one-timer from the circle 2:56 into the contest. Moments later he made one of the best saves of the game when he pulled a puck off of the goal line in front of the Flyers net. Ristolainen spent his night nonchalantly clearing the porch in front of his goaltender. Sometimes Ristolainen’s size and strength advantage over his opponents is almost comical to watch.
Noah Cates scored his 1st goal of the game 12:19 into the opening period. Brink and Pelletier picked up the assists as Cates ripped a wrist shot short side over the blocker of Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic. The Flyers played to the buzzer at the end of the first keeping pressure up as time ran out.
2nd Period
Philip Tomasino scored the Penguins only goal when he was left alone in front 6:09 into the 2nd period. From that point on it was all Flyers. Tyson Foerster made it 3-1 on a play that started with Jamie Drysdale making a fantastic keep at the point. Bobby Brink made the pass back to Drysdale who set up Foerster for the shot directly from the dot.
Cates scored his second goal of the game after a lot of hard work from Bobby Brink who along with Tyson Foerster were given credit for the assists. 4-1 Flyers
Brink’s hard work paid off again just ten seconds later as he scored his 8th goal of the season. The assists went to Cates and Foerster. 5-1 Flyers
Flyers Fans rose to their feet to give their team a standing ovation as time ran out in the 2nd period.
3rd Period
The 3rd period opened up with the final tally of the tilt. Owen Tippett scored his 17th goal of the season with the assists going to Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov. Michkov had a fine game picking up two assists and registering a team high seven shots on goal. 6-1 Flyers
Bobby Brink was named #1 star of the game with a goal and two assists. Noah Cates had two goals and an assist. Jakob Pelletier’s assist was his first point as a Flyer. Matvei Michkov’s two assists makes him the 4th Flyers rookie to reach 40 points over the last 20 years. He joins the company of Shayne Gostisbehere, Jeff Carter, and Matt Read.
Extra Credit: This decisive win over the Penguins was the first game of a home-and-home series that will continue when a rematch takes place Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The Flyers are hoping to keep moving up the crowded pack in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins can not afford to slide any further.
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