PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers’ Noah Cates hit for a double on Sunday in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The loss trimmed the Pens lead for third in the Metropolitan Division to one point.
“We just weren’t good enough,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t play well enough to win.”
Martin Jones made 37 saves in the Flyers win.
“You never want to disrespect anybody but I knew that this was going to be a tough game, just in the sense of … they’re obviously meaningful points for them,” Flyers coach Mike Yeo said. “You’re looking through their lineup … obviously a very deep team. Knew we were going to be challenged all the way throughout the lineup and I felt that our guys responded well.”
Sidney Crosby was the lone goal scorer for Pittsburgh, his goal came after the Flyers had built a 3-0 lead.
“So much of the game is mental and how you feel, and if you’re a little bit intimidated, if you’re feeling like maybe you need to do something to get the puck to somebody else, then you’re probably not just relying on your instincts,” Yeo said. “I think that just putting the three of them together allowed them to play with their instincts, and with that they’re building some confidence.”
Morgan Frost opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead to the Flyers.
Cates hit for his pair to push the lead out to 3-0/
“It’s nice to be around some younger guys,” Cates said. “It feels a little easier to talk to those guys when they’re a little younger and kind of not new but a little bit younger, a little bit more personable. It’s really nice. We’re chatting a little bit, we’re helping each other out, talking on the ice a lot, producing a little bit, so that’s nice.”
His second goal came in the third third period.
“I don’t think on a given shift he has the mindset that I just need to go score a goal this shift,” Yeo said. “I think because of that he gets into a situation where he has a shift where he’s in the [defensive] zone, he’s good in the [defensive] zone. He has a shift where he has to play in the neutral zone and he has to find a way to get to the wall and win a battle and get that puck deep, he does that. It shows signs of maturity for a young player that he’s able to stay in that moment and do what’s required and with that, and it helps him get to his game and have offense.”
Crosby scored his goal shortly after.
“When it was 1-0 and 2-0, we generated enough to get back in the game and unfortunately we didn’t score,” Crosby said. “It wasn’t our best, but sometimes you’re not going to be at your best to get a win. We didn’t do enough to get that win today.”
Travis Konecny scored in the third for the 4-1 final.
Louis Domingue made 39 saves in the Penguins loss.
“You’ve got to get up for these games,” Crosby said. “You’ve got to find a way, obviously. The circumstances are different if you’re playing a team in a similar situation or fighting for a playoff spot. … We still have to find ways to win these games and we didn’t do that today.
You must be logged in to post a comment.