Flyers stumble into success with Travis Sanheim-Tony DeAngelo pairing

Over the last seven games, most of the Flyers’ defensive pairings have constantly shifted, but there’s no real “scientific thinking” to it, coach John Tortorella said. The Travis Sanheim-Tony DeAngelo pairing is clearly working, though.

Originally, the Flyers kind of stumbled upon the pairing. Before his absence because of his grandmother’s death, DeAngelo had been a healthy scratch, and both he and Ivan Provorov had been struggling together on the top pair. Tortorella said they intentionally split the two up, but then they took the pairings and just shook things up to see where players would land.

On Dec. 20, the coaches paired DeAngelo with Sanheim for the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“Sometimes in the game, you throw it against a wall, and maybe a couple of guys stick,” Tortorella said. “That’s kind of happened. And we want to ride this pair of Tony and Sanny.”

Since then, Provorov’s first-line partner has gone back and forth between Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen. The third pairing has featured a rotating cast of York, Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, and Justin Braun. But DeAngelo and Sanheim have stayed together.

The coaches have noticed Sanheim has been playing more aggressively since getting paired with DeAngelo, and it’s something they want to encourage. Sanheim was already looking to push the offense, but DeAngelo has challenged him to push even more, both through encouragement and through his own play.

“It’s been helping me, watching him with the puck, some of the plays he makes that maybe I don’t have,” Sanheim said.

With two offensive-minded defensemen on the ice, the Flyers have had more offensive-zone time in recent games. Sanheim and DeAngelo have been breaking out pucks cleaner and extending the team’s possessions in the offensive zone. But at the same time, they have to be sure their defense doesn’t slip when called upon, Sanheim said.

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Since being paired, DeAngelo has not had a single game with a negative plus-minus, and Sanheim has only had one. The pairing may have “just happened,” but something about it clicked.

“The way that we’ve been seeing the ice together with our puck-moving skills seems to be working,” Sanheim said. “We talk lots on the ice and on the bench, and we both kind of think alike when it comes to on the ice, and I think that’s benefited us.”

When Tortorella sees Noah Cates on the ice for morning skate, it bothers him. He took Cates off the power play for a reason — to cut down his ice time and his workload.

Cates has been such a smart player and so mature in the locker room that Tortorella said it’s easy to forget he’s a rookie. Cates certainly isn’t playing rookie minutes, averaging almost 18 minutes a game and playing in some of the toughest matchups in the league.

Tortorella already hates the concept of morning skate. But even though skating extra (whether in the morning or after practices) might be common for young players, Tortorella doesn’t want Cates doing it.

Cates has been one of the smartest players, so he doesn’t necessarily need the extra time. His offense hasn’t clicked yet, but Tortorella said he’s not worried about that. At 23, Cates also isn’t the youngest player, but since he played four years in college at Minnesota-Duluth, he’s one of the newest and already has played a full college season’s worth of games.

“And that’s a concern of mine with a number of young players,” Tortorella said. “How are they going to do in the second half as far as the ice time that they’ve received?”

Between Cates needing rest and not needing that much more practice, Tortorella doesn’t think he needs to be out there. He has expressed that to Cates.

Cates hears him but has his own thoughts on the matter. He said that whether it seems like it or not, he’s still a rookie and feels like he needs to put his time in. He also said that skating is what he enjoys, and it helps clear his head before a game. He is tired, though, so he’ll take Tortorella’s thoughts into consideration.

“But I kind of like to say the hockey gods will reward you if you put in the work,” Cates said.

Carter Hart will start in goal for the Flyers in their home game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Braun will be a healthy scratch with Seeler in.