Noah Cates scores in fifth consecutive game as Flyers top the Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — There’s something about games out of NHL-mandated breaks that gets the Flyers going.

Last season, they beat the Vancouver Canucks, who were atop the NHL standings at the time, out of the holiday break and the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers after the combined bye week and All-Star Weekend.

This season, after spending a few days resting and resetting, they came out of the holiday break Saturday with a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Flyers’ star rookie, Matvei Michkov, did not play in the game’s final 20 minutes and 28 seconds.

“My decision, yeah,” coach John Tortorella said. “It’s just been a struggle. His energy, just everything about his game right now.”

Michkov finished with one shot on goal and a two-minute minor across a 9:01 stint of ice time, which included 1:41 on the power play. He did not play on the Flyers’ power play in the third period with just over 6 minutes remaining and the team looking for an insurance goal.

Michkov has not scored a point in his past seven games. He is one of two players who have played each game, the other being defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been held off the scoresheet. In the seven games, Michkov has averaged 15 minutes of ice time and has a plus-minus of minus-11.

In the 10 games before that stretch, he had 12 points (five goals, seven assists) and was plus-8 while averaging 16:20.

“For me, and I just got through talking with him, I think the schedule has kind of caught up with him. It’s going to happen,” Tortorella said. “We’re asking so much out of a 19-, well, 20-year-old now, just turned 20 [on Dec. 9].

“An NHL schedule, all the stuff, you could see his game drop before the break and just his skating and his energy, it’s just not there. So we’re going to try to help him. If I have to take him out or miss some time in periods, he’s going to. In the big picture, we just want to try to help him get his energy back. So yeah, that’s my call all the way.”

The Kontinental Hockey League typically plays 68 regular-season games. Last season, Michkov played 47 games with HK Sochi while on loan from SKA St. Petersburg, where he played one game. He missed a few weeks of the season due to pneumonia.

As for the goals, Noah Cates scored for the fifth straight game when he made it 1-0 early in the second period.

It was a slam-dunk goal for the center off the work of an increasingly confident Bobby Brink who got the puck at the right point, faked like he was going to go to the net as he hit the faceoff dot, and then carried the puck around the net. Brink fed an open Cates for the easy tally, with Lukáš Dostál out of position after biting on the wraparound.

“I think our line is predictable, and everyone plays within the structure,” said Brink, who played in his 100th NHL game on Saturday. “And that’s led to success for us, I think offensively and defensively.”

On Friday, Tortorella said he was proud of how Cates has developed his game in the last few weeks. He is equally proud of Brink, whose confidence is growing game by game.

“Bobby Brink has taken so much [stuff] from me the past couple of years in the situations that I watched him handle and just watched how he handled himself as a pro,” said Tortorella. “Right now, he’s impressed me as far as — not just the stuff you guys see — but just how he handles himself in between shifts, on the bench, the whole thing as far as being a pro. I think he’s improved tremendously, and the spot that he’s in on that line and the ice time he’s getting he deserves.”

Morgan Frost gave the Flyers their second lead in the third period. He flew down the right wing, past Ducks defenseman Owen Zellweger, and sent a centering pass from below the goal line that went off the stick of Dostál and in. It marked his third goal in three games.

Joel Farabee made it 3-1 with an empty-netter. Serving a bench minor for too many men on the ice, he exited the box and bumped Zellweger, who didn’t see him and lost the puck. Farabee scooped it up and scored his first goal since Dec. 8.

Usually on the road, one can easily spot the Flyers fans in their orange jerseys and sweatshirts. Saturday afternoon against the Ducks — who wear orange jerseys, pants, and helmets — it was harder to tell who was rooting for who.

Until you listened.

The Flyers fans in attendance were sure to boo every time Cutter Gauthier touched the puck in the first period. Selected by the Flyers fifth overall in 2022, Gauthier told the Flyers he didn’t want to play for the organization or in Philly and was traded to the Ducks for Jamie Drysdale on Jan. 8. Saturday was the first meeting between Gauthier and the Flyers since the trade; the Ducks will be at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 11 (7 p.m., NBCSP).

» READ MORE: Reassessing the Jamie Drysdale-Cutter Gauthier trade as the Flyers and Ducks face off a year later

In the first period, Gauthier skated a tick above four minutes and spent an additional two in the box for hooking Michkov. He had one shot on goal, a wrist shot from 43 feet out, and gave the puck away in the neutral zone, leading to a shot on goal by Cates. Gauthier also drew a penalty by Garnet Hathaway for tripping, but it was a weak call as the replay showed it was incidental contact.

And in case you were wondering who threw the first hit on Gauthier, it was Brink 28 seconds into the game. But he also got some love taps from Travis Sanheim, who said the night of the trade, “If he doesn’t want to be here, we’re happy to move on and get the pieces that we did.”

“Yeah for sure, I think maybe a little bit more knowing who it was,” Sanheim said when asked about Saturday. “But like I said before, we’re not worried about guys that don’t want to be in this organization. We get treated first class here and happy with the roster that we have.”

Drysdale had a strong first period as he skated 5:20 and had one shot on goal — on the power play — and a blocked shot. Although he skated with Egor Zamula in warmups and was listed with him on the official sheet, Drysdale was paired with Nick Seeler.

In the second period, Gauthier skated 4:18 and had one missed shot, but he was on the ice for the tying goal by Troy Terry. Drysdale was again active with his skating, playing six minutes with one shot attempt and a hit on Terry.

The Flyers fans came out in the third period, and an “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant, along with “Let’s go, Flyers” and some colorful words directed at Gauthier from a fan sitting by the press box, could be heard.

Drysdale had two shot attempts, two hits, and two blocked shots in 16:51 of ice time. Gauthier played 13:19 and had four shot attempts and three giveaways. He was not on the ice for the Ducks’ six-on-four power play with the Flyers up by a goal late in the third period.

Flyers goalie Sam Ersson headed into the holiday break struggling to find his game. Since returning on Dec. 8 against Utah, a 4-2 loss, he entered Saturday with a 2-4-0, 4.28 goals-against average and a .810 save percentage — and was pulled after 40 minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He told The Inquirer on Friday after the team practiced at the Honda Center that he wanted to work on his overall game and being more consistent, but he felt since returning what he “lacked was a little bit of the big saves, like the key moments.”

On Saturday he did that.

“Yeah, I thought he was great,” Sanheim said. “Made all the key saves that we needed from him and some really big ones. Unfortunately on the goal, [Terry] kind of used me as a screen and a perfect shot. Other than that, I thought he was perfect tonight.”

Ersson finished with 32 saves on 33 shots and made several key saves throughout the game. His one mistake was that goal to Terry in the second period that went through the legs of Sanheim as Cam York and Mason McTavish crossed in front.

According to Natural Stat Trick, he made eight high-danger saves at even strength, including four-on-four, and four saves, two each at mid-danger and low-danger, on the penalty kill. He also made four stops when the Flyers had the man advantage, including a save on Alex Killorn 8:05 into the game on a two-on-one.

“I just felt a little bit more calm in the net,” Ersson said. “I think I trusted my reads a little bit better and that gave me more time in situations. So just overall a better performance for me today than as of late.”

Ersson looked his best since returning from injury. He made a big right pad save on Brett Leason as Ristolainen kept him to the outside down the right wing with the Flyers up 1-0 in the second period. Later in the frame, he stopped a shot by Mason McTavish that knocked the stick out of his hand with 2:43 left. The Ducks didn’t get another shot on goal in the period.

“I think it’s one of his biggest strengths is the mental part of the game,” Tortorella said. “He’s fighting to get back to his game. I thought tonight he even looked better tonight to me [and] made some key saves in the second period. I thought he played really well.”

Forward Travis Konecny skated in his 600th NHL game. ... Forward Olle Lycksell, goalie Ivan Fedotov, and defenseman Erik Johnson were healthy scratches. ... York, a native of Anaheim Hills, got the secondary assist on Cates’ goal.

After the game, the Flyers got on the bus and headed 30 miles northwest to Crypto.com Arena for a Sunday night meeting with the Los Angeles Kings (9 p.m., NBCSP).