Less than three minutes into the game, the Philadelphia Flyers had all the margin they needed to secure two points again one of the teams at the bottom of the standings. An early two goals and three more in the second broke things open in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

How It Happened

The Flyers jumped out to an early lead. A turnover behind the net by Spencer Knight allowed Christian Dvorak to center for Alex Bump with an empty net for his third goal of the season just 48 seconds into the game. At 2:33, Sean Couturier redirected an attempt from Luke Glendening for his ninth goal of the season to make it 2-0.

The Flyers added to the lead at 5:14 of the second. Denver Barkey was there to clean up a loose puck behind Knight for his fourth goal of the season.

Chicago cut the lead to two on Connor Bedard‘s 30th goal of the season at 11:11, but answered right back as Matvei Michkov set up Noah Cates for his 16th of the season at 12:41. Dvorak redirected a pass from Owen Tippett in the final minute of the period for his 15th of the season to make it 5-1.

Box Score1st PeriodPHI Alex Bump (3) (Christian Dvorak) 0:48PHI Sean Couturier (9) (Luke Glendening) 2:332nd PeriodPHI Denver Barkey (4) (Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett) 5:14CHI Connor Bedard (30) (Anton Frondell, Louis Crevier) 11:11PHI Noah Cates (16) (Matvei Michkov, Bump) 12:41PHI Dvorak (15) (Tippett, Cates) 19:353rd PeriodBy the NumbersShots: Flyers: 41, Blackhawks: 26Power Play: Flyers: 0-for-4, Blackhawks: 0-for-3Faceoffs: Flyers: 61.8%, Blackhawks: 38.2%Goalies: PHI Samuel Ersson: 25 saves on 26 shots, CHI Spencer Knight: 36 saves on 41 shotsKey Performers

⭐ Noah Cates — A goal and an assist on the night for Noah Cates, who continued his hot streak and reached a new career-high in points.

⭐⭐ Christian Dvorak — Dvorak got things started with a strong play on the puck to set up the opening goal, then scored the final goal.

⭐⭐⭐ Alex Bump — Bump got the scoring started, and added an assist for the first multi-point game of his career.

The Takeaway

The Flyers did exactly what they were expected to do against the Chicago Blackhawks. Facing a team looking to play spoiler, the Flyers never gave them the chance and were in control from the start. It’s a strong showing, and one that can be built upon going forward, but the rest of the night’s results did them no favors in the dwindling playoff race.

Up Next

The Flyers take on the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at 8 PM.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.

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