Noah Cates scores winning goal as Flyers overcome early deficit to defeat Panthers, 4-3

On Saturday night, a raucous, wild crowd helped fuel the Flyers to a victory against Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks.

On Monday night, it was a scrappy Flyers squad that helped get the fans into it, and together they skated away with a 4-3 win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The Flyers have won two straight for the first time since Dec. 10-12 and now have eight third-period comeback wins, the most in the NHL.

Noah Cates scored the game-winner with less than 6 minutes remaining as he chipped the puck past Florida’s Aleksander Barkov. The puck flew in the air and Cates knocked it down with his glove and then streaked and scored over flailing Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

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Sam Ersson started his third straight game and saved his best for the last few minutes of regulation. With 3 minutes, 13 seconds left, he robbed Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen twice and then made a diving save to stop on a Anton Lundell shot at the left post with his blocker as he lost his stick.

The Flyers had some chances in the first period, notably a Sean Couturier chance off a pass from Olle Lycksell that Matvei Michkov followed up with a bang-on shot 5 minutes in. But in the second period, they came alive — thanks to Garnet Hathaway.

Seven seconds into the period, the forward laid a booming hit on Florida’s Niko Mikkola in the corner. It set the tone and woke the Flyers — and their fans — as they started getting more chances.

Couturier’s line had another golden chance as Lycksell set up a breaking Couturier but was stopped by the former Flyer Bobrovsky. The Cates line also controlled the puck and was stopped in tight.

Then Hathaway broke through. He flew down the right boards and cut along the bottom of the right faceoff circle, sending a centering pass that went off the stick of Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt and in. Hathaway has goals in consecutive games for the first time since late December 2023.

The energy started to shift in the building and the crowd was finally into it.

And then 43 seconds into the final period, Barkov was called for tripping and the Flyers went on the power play. Brimming with confidence from their first two power-play goal game on Saturday — and despite an 0-for-3 start to the night on Monday — the Flyers tied things up at 2 with the man advantage.

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With three Flyers in the corner compared to two Panthers, the Orange and Black recovered the puck and Bobby Brink sent it up to Rasmus Ristolainen at the left point. The defenseman sent a pass to Travis Sanheim in the right circle for the one-timer and Cates buried the rebound. Tyson Foerster set the screen as he was right atop the crease.

Florida retook the lead, 3-2, on a Sam Reinhart power-play goal after Couturier was called for a phantom hook on Uvis Balinskis. But then Dmitry Kulikov was called for tripping Morgan Frost on what looked like a makeup call and the Flyers tied it up again at 3.

This time it was the first power-play unit getting the goal. Off an offensive zone faceoff in the right circle, Drysdale got the puck and walked it all the way down to the left circle. He sent a pass to Michkov at the right post but the rookie winger couldn’t control it and it tapped off his blade — right to Frost for the jam. He now has goals in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 17-22, 2022.

The game didn’t look good at the start. By the 10-minute mark, the Flyers were down 2-0.

Reinhart scored a nifty shorthanded goal after he corralled a Drysdale pass intended for Travis Konecny that missed him and went off the boards. Reinhart skated down the left wing before cutting across the net and through checks before finishing into the top corner.

Less than 2 minutes later, the score was doubled when Evan Rodrigues passed the puck across the ice to a streaking Balinskis. The Florida defenseman sent the puck through the legs of defenseman Cam York and the pads of Ersson.

Forward Joel Farabee was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. … The game marked No. 250 for Gritty.

The Flyers head to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP+).