The Philadelphia Flyers were dealt a heavy blow the moment it was confirmed that top-end two-way winger Tyson Foerster is going to miss at least the next two months and could possibly not be back on the ice until after the Olympic break in February. But, in the first game since the 23-year-old winger’s freak injury, there were some signs that the Flyers could live with his temporary replacement in the top nine.

It was almost automatic. The rugged and young Russian winger Nikita Grebenkin, who has been toiling away on the Flyers’ fourth line — or in the press box — was given the opportunity so many Flyers fans were hoping for, to take up a spot in the top nine and give him some better linemates. As head coach Rick Tocchet jumbled his forward lines with Foerster’s newfound absence, Grebenkin found himself next to Bobby Brink and Noah Cates, in the exact same spot that Foerster found himself in for the majority of the last calendar year.

On Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, this new Foerster-less Flyers lineup got to make its debut — yeah, he already missed some time this season but this is the new version of this attempt to win games without a very important player. And in that game the line of Grebenkin, Brink, and Cates managed to combine for a goal that killed just about any sense of possibility that the Sabres could walk away with some dignity.

The Flyers managed to score three goals in just 59 seconds and the third of this overpowering sequence came off the stick of one Bobby Brink, but it was all three forwards on the ice that contributed to the 3-1 tally.

BOBBY BRINK MAKES IT 3-1 JUST LIKE THAT!!! WHAT A PLAY FROM NIKITA GREBENKIN!!! INSTANT IMPACT IN THE TOP 9. 3-1!!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/wTYV7WQTZs

— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 4, 2025

After the Sabres messed up their attempted breakout with a misplayed pass (surprise, surprise), Grebenkin immediately pounced on the loose puck and kept the play continue in the zone by an inch or two. The young winger then nudged the puck forward to Brink in a hyper-aware play just as some very silly Sabres defender was charging at Grebenkin and not even paying attention to where the puck was. Brink then perfectly did a little backhand drop pass to Cates for the first attempted shot and Brink cleaned up the rebound with an emphatic shot.

Brink put a little bit more weight behind that shot because it’s been a while since he’s been able to get something. Before Wednesday’s 5-2 win in which he earned a goal and an assist, Brink went five straight games without a point and wasn’t really as impactful as he was earlier on in the season. Thankfully, all he needed was just some defender on the worst team in the NHL to completely misread the play and pot in an easy goal.

But it was Grebenkin who really managed to keep the play alive enough and caught the Sabres defenders out of position with his quick-thinking around the blue line. He won’t be a one-to-one replacement of Tyson Foerster — no one really is in this organization — but it’s little plays like this (and earning an assist) that will keep his spot on this line for the time being.

Bobby Brink praises Nikita Grebenkin after Flyers win: ‘It was a treat’

In addition to earning a point in his first game in an elevated role and his first since Nov. 4, Grebenkin also earned some praise from his new linemate. After finally rising from being on the veteran-heavy fourth line with some of the slowest forwards available to him, Grebenkin got to play with some of that young talent the Flyers have and didn’t look out of place whatsoever.

“He showed a lot of talent, a lot of hard work, won his battles, made a lot of good plays,” Brink said about playing with Grebenkin Wednesday night, via NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall. “It was a treat to play with him.”

It was a treat! Grebenkin isn’t just some cool player from overseas good for a viral soundbite, but he can actually play some solid hockey, as Brink points out. It’s not perfect, but those minor details that has made Foerster so effective in all three zones, some of that is able to be replicated in Grebenkin, at least according to his new linemate.

This line did unfortunately get a little bit shelled on Wednesday night, though. Despite managing to outscore the Sabres 1-0 while on the ice at 5-on-5, the Sabres did have a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal, a 17-6 advantage in shot attempts, and a 0.9-0.33 expected goals advantage, according to Natural Stat Trick. The underlying metrics were not pretty at all and there are things to clean up if this trio is going to be sticking together, but at least they got the most important thing: A goal. And it was a pretty solid one.