Flyers aim to keep rolling; Sean Walker, Cal Petersen are set to see familiar faces vs. Kings

There’s an old adage in hockey that goals are like bananas, they come in bunches. And the Flyers certainly got a full bunch on Friday night with a 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres.

It was a statement win for a team that had been playing well but was amid a three-game losing streak and had lost five of its past six. Across those six games — which included a lone win over the Stanley Cup-contending Minnesota Wild — they had a goal differential of minus-5 but were, on average, outshooting opponents by almost eight thanks to controlling play for large chunks of time.

» READ MORE: The Flyers aren’t as bad as their record. Actually, their underlying numbers are quite good.

The Flyers were struggling to finish chances while failing to compete for a full 60 minutes until it all came together in Western New York, despite being without No. 1 goalie Carter Hart (mid-body injury) and top center Sean Couturier (lower-body injury).

“It was definitely important,” Travis Konecny said about getting the win on Friday night. “But we felt like the game before [a 5-2 loss on Wednesday night to the Sabres] should have been ours too. We had all the confidence going into that game; not saying we were walking in thinking we were going to win the game but we had the confidence we were going to play hard and play the right way.”

It won’t be an easy one on Saturday. The Flyers will face a strong test in a rested Los Angeles Kings team that is a perfect 5-for-5 on the road and has not lost in regulation since Oct. 21 (4-0-1). But they will be looking to build on a big bounce-back win and continue to build their confidence.

“I think we’ve been working really hard, pressing forward and creating a lot of chances for ourselves and they hadn’t been going in,” said forward Scott Laughton, who scored his first goal of the season in Buffalo. “Hopefully, this starts us to get going a little bit and finding the back of the net.”

Speaking of bunches, Sean Walker and Cal Petersen will see a bunch of familiar faces on Saturday night. The pair were acquired from the Kings in June in a three-way deal that sent Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Walker has been steady on the blue line for the Flyers, notching two goals — both shorthanded — and two assists in 11 games. He’s averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time and is second on the team with 19 blocked shots this season. Defenseman Nick Seeler leads the team with 20.

The blueliner is in uncharted territory facing a former NHL — a team that gave him his chance as an undrafted kid out of Bowling Green after a season with the Kings’ AHL team — for the first time.

“It’s exciting, obviously, playing against those guys,” he said. “A lot of good friends over there and stuff but they won’t be friends on the ice.”

Petersen, who was called up from Lehigh Valley on Thursday, will get the start against his former buddies. It is his first NHL start since Nov. 22 and first NHL appearance since coming on in relief Nov. 29, 2022, for the Kings in a wild 9-8 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken. In four games with Lehigh Valley, he is 1-3-0 with a 3.76 goals against average and .884 save percentage.

“I know the goalie he is and will be, so I’m really excited for him to get the opportunity to play tonight,” Walker said. “I know he’s going to do a great job for us and we’re going to do a great job for him.”

It’s early in the 2023-24 NHL season, but one of the top freshmen is decked out in Orange and Black. Bobby Brink, 22, sits tied atop the rookie leaderboard with a name many expected to see there. No, not 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard; Brink is joined by the kid from the other side of the Keystone State, Logan Cooley.

Through his first 10 games of the season, Brink has eight points (three goals, five assists). He has notched three multi-point games, including a goal and an assist on Friday night. It’s a far better start than the 10 games he played at the end of the 2021-22 season where he mustered just four assists.

Brink has showcased a high hockey IQ and an ability to read plays well. A guy who looks to make the snazzy pass, he’s also shown a nose for the net and came close to notching his first NHL hat trick against the Wild — the same game he scored his first two NHL goals.

Matvei Michkov continues to dazzle in the KHL. The Flyers first-round pick from this past June, Michkov scored a power-play goal from a sharp angle and without a whole lot of daylight. The 18-year-old now has nine goals in 19 games for Sochi. ... Travis Konecny’s goal on Friday night was his ninth of the season and tied him for the league lead with Red Wings star Alex DeBrincat and Ducks forward Frank Vatrano. He “feels pretty good” these days but isn’t too worried about being atop the leaderboard despite “everyone keep saying stuff” to him. Konecny will play in his 500th NHL game against the Kings. ... The Flyers recalled Felix Sandström from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and placed the goaltender on injured reserve (upper body).