Zegras, Flyers pick up emotion-filled win over Gauthier, Ducks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Trevor Zegras had himself a fun night against his old team.
Facing the Ducks for the first time since being traded by them last summer, Zegras buried two goals and led the Flyers to a 5-2 win Tuesday night at an energetic Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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“It was a tough ending with my time there,” Zegras said. “I had been thinking about this game for a long time, it was one that meant a lot to me. It was definitely cool to get one and then two, so it was special.”
Zegras was all kinds of fired up after his second goal — this one on the power play — gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the first period.
Fans were fired up, too, as they watched the game turn into a pretty dominant win for the Flyers over Cutter Gauthier and Anaheim. The Flyers have outscored the Ducks 11-2 in Gauthier’s two career trips to Philadelphia.
Cam York, Travis Sanheim and Nikita Grebenkin also found the back of the net Tuesday night. Grebenkin’s marker was a game-sealing empty-netter.
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The Flyers (22-12-7) opened a four-game homestand in entertaining fashion. Rick Tocchet’s club moved into third place of the Metropolitan Division at the season’s halfway point.
Last season, the Flyers were 17-19-5 at the midway mark.
“We don’t want to be satisfied here,” Sean Couturier said. “We’ve got to keep pushing, take it to another level.”
The Flyers were without Matvei Michkov, who missed the game after taking a puck to his left foot last weekend. The Flyers, though, had good news on the 21-year-old winger in the morning.
The Ducks (21-19-3) were coming off a loss Monday night and have now dropped seven straight (0-6-1).
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“It’s funny how these two teams have turned into such big games,” Zegras said. “It’s a tough back-to-back for them, but they’ve got a lot of great players. Hopefully many more good games to come.”
The Flyers face Anaheim again March 18 when they visit Honda Center.
• Zegras definitely had some extra giddyap to him.
His goals came on excellent shots. He’s now at 41 points through 41 games with the Flyers.
“That’s what Trev does, man, those are two good one-timers,” Tocchet said. “[Leon] Draisaitl’s the best in the business [at those shots from the angle], it looked a little Draisaitl-ish there, a couple of them.”
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After a promising start to his career with the Ducks, Zegras became a change-of-scenery candidate over his final two seasons there.
“I have no hard feelings with any of the guys on the team,” Zegras said Tuesday morning. “I got to know them and play with them for a big part of my life, so it’ll be cool to play against them.”
The Flyers tried to set up Zegras for a hat trick when Anaheim emptied its net.
“Playing against your old team that kind of shoved you out the door, that third one would have been pretty cool,” the 24-year-old said, “but we got the win, so that’s what matters.”
Gauthier was back in town for the second time since being traded just about two years ago when he declined to sign with the Flyers.
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It wasn’t quite as raucous as his first visit last season, but the building was juiced and the former Flyers prospect still heard it from fans. He elicited more boos after he opened the scoring with a first-period power play goal.
But then Zegras got going.
“The crowd was outstanding,” Tocchet said. “I just remembered the days when I played, that’s a loud building tonight, they were awesome.”
• Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale exited with injuries and did not return to the game.
Just 2:38 minutes into the action, Brink was hit hard and somewhat high by Jansen Harkins. The Flyers’ winger had the puck when Harkins connected with him.
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Noah Cates ate up some penalty minutes by defending his teammate and dropping the gloves with Harkins.
“Give Catesy a lot of credit,” Tocchet said. “Sticking up for his teammates.”
In the second period, Drysdale was nailed by Ross Johnston. The Flyers’ defenseman was nowhere near the puck. He stayed down before eventually skating off with assistance from head athletic trainer Tommy Alva.
Johnston was assessed a game misconduct.
Garnet Hathaway did a good job countering Anaheim’s play with some physicality of his own.
“Garny laying two huge hits,” York said. “That’s playoff hockey and we feel like we’re a playoff team.”
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• Dan Vladar did his job again, making 16 saves on 18 shots.
Both of the Ducks’ goals came on the power play. Anaheim trimmed the Flyers’ lead to 4-2 during the third period, but Tocchet’s club was never really in danger.
Ducks netminder Lukas Dostal stopped 34 of the Flyers’ 38 shots.
More: Flyers to have four players at the Olympics in February
• Christian Dvorak had an assist on Zegras’ first goal a day after signing a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension.
“The fans were just electric all night,” Dvorak said. “It was a lot of fun.”
The Flyers have loved the 29-year-old’s smarts and scoring down the middle. He signed a one-year, $5.4 million contract last summer. Given how badly the Flyers have needed center depth, they had no desire to move on from him come the March trade deadline and didn’t want to lose him for nothing in free agency this offseason.
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“He’s a good hockey player that makes us a better team,” general manager Danny Briere said before the game. … “You guys know that there are not a lot of unrestricted free agents available this summer, almost no centermen.
“The options are to let him walk, to trade him or to re-sign him. If you let him walk, you’ve got to find something else. There are almost no centers available, you have to look at a trade and it’s going to cost you assets to do that.”
• The Flyers are back in action Thursday when they host Scott Laughton and the Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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