While the Philadelphia Flyers stumbled to another disappointing defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, one silver lining was that several players mired in offensive ruts or droughts were able to chip in offensively.
Matvei Michkov snapped his 7-game pointless drought with a goal and an assist, Scott Laughton recorded a goal and an assist playing alongside Michkov, Joel Farabee netted his 2nd goal in as many games, and Morgan Frost, Cam York, and Travis Sanheim each notched an assist apiece. Unsurprisingly, the red-hot line featuring Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster struck for another goal, something that has become the norm in recent weeks.
The aforementioned trio all have something to prove for one reason or another this year. Cates and Foerster are playing on expiring contracts – albeit RFAs – and Brink is looking for a lot more consistency in his game, especially on the offensive side of the puck.
Foerster has collected 4 goals and 7 points over his last 6 contests as well as 6 goals and 11 points in his last 14 games rating compared to the 4 goals and 6 points he accumulated over his previous 22 games to go along with a -5 rating. Brink has 3 assists and a +2 rating over his last 6 contests and while he hasn’t necessarily seen his name on the boxscore a lot, that hasn’t been a good reflection of his overall gameplay in recent weeks.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this recently constructed line has been Cates, who had his 5-game goal streak snapped on Sunday night. He’s added an assist as well during that stretch and has seen over 16 minutes a night compared to the 2 goals, 7 points, and 12:52 ATOI over his previous 27 contests.
While they’ve done a great job at keeping the offense alive, some of the usual suspects have chipped in regularly as Owen Tippett has registered 7 goals and 11 points in his last 13 games and Travis Konecny has been nothing short of amazing for a downtrodden offense as he has picked up 11 goals and 31 points over his last 25 games.
However, Frost has also added just 2 points outside of his 3 goals over his last 8 games, Sean Couturier has just one goal in his last 12 games, Farabee has 3 goals and 6 points in his last 19 games, and Michkov apparently hit a road block before seeing his 7-game point drought snapped – as he was also benched a few times during that stretch.
The offense will surely come back for a lot of their top-6 players as the doldrums of an NHL season can take effect at any given moment. But at the very least the Flyers have something working for them outside of Konecny, even if it was technically their “third line”, though they have now been elevated to top-6 status.
Slumps and streaks are nothing new for the Flyers as last year’s trio of Konecny, Tippett, and Frost led the way for most of the second-half of the season, while the rest were kept relatively quiet. This year, there were a few spurts at the beginning of the year within the top-6 but they never lasted longer than a few games.
Will the Cates, Brink, and Foerster trio keep things going? It’s hard not to think that they can’t keep up at least the intensity, scoring chances, and forechecking. All three players are well above average off the puck and on the puck, their analytical numbers are good to great, and they all bring something different to the table that compliments their linemates.
Nevertheless, the offensive spark will subside at some point, at which it is absolutely paramount for the Konecnys and Tippetts of the world to keep producing while they need a lot from the Frosts, Farabees and Couturiers.
It also helps that John Tortorella has kept this line intact as well. After all the line juggling from earlier in the season – and even recently within the top-6 – he has seen enough from that trio to keep them active.
From Flyers website contributor Bill Meltzer: “That was our one line that was going throughout the game [a 6-4 loss to Detroit]’, Tortorella said, noting that the line was pushing play into the opponent’s end of the ice and not forcing low-percentage plays during their shifts.”
It’s a trio that works very well together and could become an even more dangerous trio for the Flyers if the rest of the top-6 unlocks their potential.
Cates has been an underrated, unsung hero for the Flyers since he joined the team. He won’t blow you away with his offense and he has primarily been used as a bottom-6 centre for most of his career, but his numbers will always jump off the page at the end of the season.
Brink and Foerster have been sneaky good analytically as evidenced by Foerster being 6th in Corsi and 2nd in Fenwick and Brink being 4th in Corsi and 6th in Fenwick amongst the Flyers’ forward group.
The Flyers continue their road trip on Tuesday with a stop in San Jose as they try to ring in the New Year with a much-needed victory against Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks.
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