![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TMC-Z-Flyers-Hockey_261006400-1.jpg\")
Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 Christian Dvorak (22) scores a goal against Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 Spencer Knight (30) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\nPHILADELPHIA \u2013 After a month of nailbiters, the Flyers finally caught a break with the arrival of the last-place Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks, who once went 0-16-1 in Philadelphia between 1996 and 2023, did not put up much resistance as the Flyers scored early and often for a 5-1 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, mindful that Sam Ersson\u2019s last loss came quite a while back, decided to start him in goal. Ersson rewarded the coach\u2019s faith with a strong effort and raised his record to 4-0-0 since Jan. 29.<\/p>\n
The winners finished the game with 42 shots, tying their season high (42 vs. Montreal on Nov. 4).<\/p>\n
Tocchet was upbeat after this effort, one in which the Flyers won the faceoff battle, 34-21, and outhit the visitors, 22-13.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of energy,\u201d Tocchet remarked after the game. \u201cAll four lines. \u2026 I thought they were on edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach has been preaching get to the net and on this night they did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about things we have to get better at,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cI thought we had a couple backdoors, a couple guys could have gotten some goals there. That\u2019s a good thing we have to build on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philadelphia got off to a quick start but really broke this game open with a three-goal second period.<\/p>\n
Leading 3-1, the Flyers\u2019 Noah Cates removed any doubt about the outcome with his 16th goal of the season at 12:41, converting a Matvei Michkov pass from the sideboards. The goal gave Cates a new high for his career. It was also his 39th point of the season, another personal record for a campaign.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 Christian Dvorak (22) scores a goal against Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 Spencer Knight (30) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n
Then Christian Dvorak scored with 24.4 seconds left in the period when he tapped in an Owen Tippett entry past goaltender Spencer Knight.<\/p>\n
Denver Barkey had scored his fourth goal of the season at 5:14 of the second to make it 3-0. Trevor Zegras created the initial rush and shot. Knight had the initial stop but the puck deflected to Barkey in the crease for an easy put-back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was one of \u2018Bark\u2019s\u2019 best games,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cHe\u2019s been playing like this for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barkey has only been around a few months but he plays like he\u2019s been in the league a few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe [Tocchet] has been preaching for me to shoot the puck more and get pucks to the net,\u201d said Barkey, who finished with three shots [and his center, Zegras, had seven]. \u201cClearly it\u2019s working. Can\u2019t shy away from it. And you\u2019re got to repeat it. I try to shoot the puck when I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tippett, the third part of the Barkey-Zegras line, had two assists and continued his high-energy play.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s punchin\u2019 the clock every game,\u201d Tocchet said of Tippett, \u201cand you\u2019re noticing. I don\u2019t think he was happy with his last game. Today he was more serious. He dragged everyone into the fray tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Tippett: \u201cObviously there\u2019s some stuff I could have done differently last game [a 3-2 loss to Columbus]. The luxury of our schedule is we\u2019re right back at it two days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Flyers had not recorded a shutout in their first 70 games and that didn\u2019t change in game No. 71. Connor Bedard scored at 11:11 of the second period to get the Blackhawks on the board.<\/p>\n
The first period saw the Flyers jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in a burst reminiscent of the \u201870s when the old Broad Street Bullies would grab a multi-goal edge before fans were fully seated at the old Spectrum.<\/p>\n
Rookie Alex Bump kicked off the scoring binge just 48 seconds after the opening whistle. Knight attempted a pass from behind his net to defenseman Artyom Levshumov but Christian Dvorak intercepted and found Bump in front for a shot into the unguarded net.<\/p>\n
Then Sean Couturier made it 2-0 at 2:33. Luke Glendening stole a puck and fed Couturier in front.<\/p>\n
Ersson on top of his game<\/p>\n
Ersson\u2019s recent improved play now gives the Flyers two goaltenders they can count on. Dan Vladar stands fourth in the NHL in save percentage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe [Ersson] has been great for us,\u201d Dvorak said. \u201cAnd \u2018Vlady\u2019, too. They\u2019ve been a big part of our hockey [success] since the [Olympic] break. It\u2019s fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ersson seems comfortable in this backup role. He\u2019s only missed seven games due to injury this season and maybe a lighter workload is a key to staying upright.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou try to be ready when you get the call,\u201d Ersson said. \u201cI think the team, since the break, has been doing a very good job. We\u2019re just taking it a game at a time and see where it takes us.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been a few low points this season but he\u2019s been working diligently with goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn times of struggle I believe you have to dig in and believe even harder in what you\u2019re doing,\u201d Ersson said. \u201cLess is more a lot of the times. Keep grindin\u2019 away. The team is playing well, it makes my job easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Short shots<\/p>\n
The Flyers head into weekend action for another back-to-back starting Saturday night in Detroit and finishing up Sunday night in Philadelphia against Dallas. \u2026 Couturier is just one goal away from his 12th 10-goal season. The only other Flyers with more: Bob Clarke, 15; Claude Giroux, 13; Bill Barber, 12. \u2026 This was the first time the Flyers hit the five-goal mark since a 7-3 win at Colorado on Jan. 23.<\/p>\n
Wayne Fish is a freelance writer. Follow his coverage at www.flyingfishhockey.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2013 After a month of nailbiters, the Flyers finally caught a break with the arrival of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,43,5095],"class_list":{"0":"post-525026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116299216373637634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}