Good vibes from the Flyers after an impressive win: Defense looks deep and offense shows balance

How quickly things can change across an 82-game season.

If the Flyers had lost on Saturday, it would have been their fourth in six games. Instead, a quick spurt of goals that started a cascade led to a 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils, and now they have won three of four.

This time last year, the Flyers were 8-10-2, and two seasons ago, when they came close to a playoff spot, the Flyers were 10-9-1 through 20 games.

At the 20-game mark this season, the Flyers are 11-6-3 and sit in a playoff spot in a supertight Eastern Conference.

Here are seven things we learned Saturday that the Flyers can carry through the next 20 games.

It’s been a slow process as the team learns coach Rick Tocchet’s offensive systems, but it has been building. Entering the night, the Flyers were ranked 29th in the NHL in goals per game (2.63). However, in the last five games, including Saturday night, they rank 12th with an average of 3.20 goals. And against New Jersey, they set a franchise record with three goals in 26 seconds.

“To get one, and get the building into it, obviously a couple of quick [goals] after that was awesome,” said Noah Cates, who tied the score at 1 and scored the first of four Flyers’ goals in 3 minutes, 32 seconds. “Just keeping our foot on the gas and getting pucks out and being predictable early is kind of what we’re preaching right now, and we’ve just got to keep it up.”

Added Sean Couturier: “Obviously, if we get more shots on net, the odds should be a little more in our favor. But I think it’s more than that. Today, we forechecked pretty well. We created turnovers, and that’s hard to defend for any team. So off of that, we can create some offense, get some shots, and at the same time, when we had our chances, we capitalized.”

He is always known as an offensive defenseman, but Jamie Drysdale’s defensive game continues to grow and impress. The second pairing of Drysdale and Emil Andrae was not on the ice together for any goals by the Flyers, but they were also not on the ice for any against.

According to Natural Stat Trick, they skated together for 14 minutes, 6 seconds across all strengths, and allowed 12 shot attempts, including six shots, and six scoring chances. And in the third period, Drysdale combined with Cates to help keep a loose puck in the crease out of the net after a weird carom off the boards took goalie Dan Vladař out of the play.

“Thought Drysdale was our best player tonight. … For defending, he was our best defender by far,” Tocchet said. “I thought Andrae, too. Andrae is not scared of going into corners. I thought those two guys were really defending hard.”

Skating in his first game since Nov. 1, Egor Zamula admitted he was “kind of nervous” on his first shift. Makes sense considering he had played in only eight of the Flyers’ first 19 games.

But the blueliner put on an impressive show, skating alongside his old partner Nick Seeler and finishing at plus-5. Although they hadn’t played together this season, across the last three seasons, Zamula played the second-most minutes with Seeler (246:46).

» READ MORE: The duo of Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae is bolstering the Flyers’ defense

Seeing the Russian slide back into the lineup seamlessly — and showing versatility — is a good sign for the depth on defense.

The top pair of Cam York and Travis Sanheim continues to drive the defense. Noah Juulsen, who sat for the first time this season, has been a steady presence on the third pair, and the Flyers also have Rasmus Ristolainen inching closer to a return from injury.

Once again, the opposition got on the board first when Timo Meier scored on a wacky sequence during a power play. But, as Tyson Foerster said, “It isn’t great, but we bounced back.”

Indeed. It’s never ideal to fall behind early in games. However, maybe for the Flyers it is. They lead the NHL with eight wins — a reminder, they have 11 total wins on the season — when trailing first.

Against the St. Louis Blues a week ago, the Flyers won, 6-5, in a shootout, but got all the scoring in regulation from one line. On Saturday night, three of the four lines got on the board.

The uptick comes after the Cates, Foerster, and Bobby Brink line was broken up. Cates and Foerster are still together, but now have Travis Konecny on the right wing. They combined for three goals against New Jersey, with Foerster getting a pair.

Brink was moved alongside Matvei Michkov and Couturier, and the Minnesotan scored after receiving a pass from the captain — who kept the puck away from two defenders — in the second period. In the first period, it was Couturier feeding Michkov for a breakaway after the Russian winger read the play properly and sprinted ahead.

“What I like is he backchecked, he was in a good position, and once he saw we got full puck possession, he just took off, which is what we want,” Couturier said of the goal that started the 26-second, record-breaking frenzy. “When you have a guy like that, that you can send alone on a goalie, I like our odds.”

The line of Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras, and Christian Dvorak was on the ice for one Devils goal but made up for it in the third period with Zegras getting on the board. Zegras now has 21 points in 20 games.

And while the fourth line of Rodrigo Ābols, Garnet Hathaway, and Nic Deslauriers didn’t score, they played a role in keeping the energy up.

“Every time they’re out there, they’re creating momentum,” Couturier said. “They’re three big boys that can shoot the puck in and lay the body; I’m sure it gets tiring for defenders on the other team. So, yeah, even if they don’t score, they bring a lot and help us along the way with the momentum swings.”

Added Tocchet: “I thought the [Ābols] line again, I thought Abs had a good game. … I thought he forechecked well and held onto some pucks. It’s nice when you can get some minutes to those guys. But, yeah, balanced offense was great.”

Tocchet did say recently that he thought his team backed in more with Sam Ersson in net, which saw him face harder shots, leading to a lower save percentage. The backing in did occur, with less frequency, with Vladař in net, but it has stopped for now — as noted by the rush chances and strong transition game the Flyers had on Saturday. Regardless, it’s clear that the net is Vladař‘s for now.

Among goalies with at least 10 games this season, Vladař ranks No. 4 in goals-against average (2.42) and save percentage (. 912). He is 8-4-1 in 13 games, with 10 of those showcasing a save percentage above .900.

According to Natural Stat Trick, he stopped all 14 low-danger shots he saw from the Devils, nine of 10 mid-danger, and six of eight high-danger. He came up huge in the third period as New Jersey was pressing, stopping Meier off a cross-crease pass on a two-on-one and robbing Nico Hischier between his pair of goals when the Devils captain had two big chances while shorthanded.

In front of a sellout crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the Flyers brought the entertainment. Was it the loudest Foerster has heard? “Yeah, and when Anaheim came to town,” he said with a big grin. That game saw former Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier make his debut in Philly.

A former Flyers forward, Tocchet also heard the fans loud and clear.

“I’ve lived it here, this crowd. When they get something to cheer about, it’s loud. … They’re a big part of it,” Tocchet said. “So, we’ve got to continue to push the envelope to get these guys on our side, because they want to believe in our team and that starts on the ice with us.”