One of the more successful development stories during the Flyers rebuild has been Noah Cates. On Saturday night, the Stillwater, MN native and former University of Minnesota-Duluth star had one of his biggest moments to date against his hometown team.
Cates scored the first overtime goal of his career, capping a 2-1 Flyers win over the Wild at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The Flyers had the better of possession in the opening period and out-shot Minnesota, 6-3, but neither team could find the net.
Just 1:55 into the second, the Wild got on the board first. Vladimir Tarasenko fired a one-timer that beat Dan Vladar high to make it 1-0. The Flyers challenged for offside, but the call on the ice was confirmed.
Through two periods, shots were 11-11.
The Flyers finally tied the game at 7:10 of the third. Owen Tippett created a second-chance opportunity with a poke check away from netminder Jesper Wallstedt. Tippett was able to bank home the rebound for his third goal of the season to tie the game at one.
That forced overtime, where the Wild had a great chance to win the game, but the shot went wide as Vladar dove back across the crease.
Moments later, Vladar kept the puck in play after a glove save, and on the ensuing rush, Cates scored the game-winning goal to give the Flyers the win.
Vladar made 15 saves on 16 shots in the win. Wallstedt made 19 saves on 21 shots in the loss.
The Flyers have one more game on the four-game homestand, facing the Seattle Kraken on Monday night at 7 p.m.
