Bobby Brink plays hero behind Tyson Foerster’s two goals in Flyers’ shootout win over Islanders

There’s a faction of Flyers fans out there who want the team to lose games down the stretch to improve its odds in the draft lottery. And, look, it’s not entirely misguided.

But when the team’s young players start putting it together the way the Flyers did on Saturday, how can you be mad about the results?

“We’re still trying to work on our own games, trying to get better,” said goalie Sam Ersson. “I think that’s a huge part of it. And then obviously, just as a team, having some pride playing for the Flyers logo, and knowing that we can try to do something good here with the games we have left.”

After his first career hat trick against the Rangers on Wednesday, Tyson Foerster followed up with a two-goal game, and Bobby Brink was the hero in the fifth round of the shootout to secure the 4-3 Flyers win at the Wells Fargo Center.

With their fifth victory in six games under interim coach Brad Shaw, the Flyers eliminated the Islanders from playoff contention. New York had sent the game to overtime on Bo Horvat’s goal with 61 seconds left in the third period.

Foerster opened the scoring with a backhander on the power play, and Matvei Michkov tallied his 60th point of the season on the assist, the first Flyers rookie to score 60 points since Mikael Renberg had 82 points in 1993-94. Foerster continues to build on his career-best season, now with 24 goals and 41 points in Year 2, but he said postgame that he doesn’t think much has changed in terms of his approach — he’s just getting more puck luck.

“He’s always a very conscientious player as far as the 200-foot game,” Shaw said of Foerster. “... I like how he earns his success. I like how he doesn’t cheat to get his success. It’s not an easy thing to do on a regular basis. It’s a real good sign from a young guy, that’s showing that he’s going to be a good pro and a good player for a long time.”

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The Flyers had converted on just 14.8% of power play opportunities entering Saturday’s game, which ranked 30th in the league. But since Shaw took over for John Tortorella, the power play has produced five goals in 17 opportunities, a 29.4% clip.

The Flyers gave one back on the penalty kill, with defenseman Noah Dobson finding Anders Lee for a tip-in in front of the net, and the Islanders continued to put pressure on Ersson, outshooting the Flyers, 14-4, in the second period. Near the end of the frame, Dobson split the defense and went five-hole on Ersson to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Islanders had 11 high-danger chances through two periods, compared to just five for the Flyers against Marcus Högberg, the Islanders’ third goalie, who has an .887 save percentage.

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Jakob Pelletier, a late-season addition from a trade with Calgary, tied the game early in the third period with a backhander off the rush and showed off his speed again in the third with another breakaway rush chance that he couldn’t push through.

The goal was his sixth point in his last seven games, the best stretch so far of Pelletier’s short stint with the Flyers. On Friday, Shaw said he felt Pelletier was finally getting comfortable with his role on the ice after the trade and flashing what he’s capable of on offense with linemates Owen Tippett and Ryan Poehling.

“That trio has done that a few times now, where they support and they execute,” Shaw said. “It’s great to see them have success. It gives us some balance. It gives us lots of different options when we’re down and or even and looking for that next goal. The more balance you can have, obviously, the better it is.”

Foerster broke the tie with his second goal, his eighth in the six games since Shaw took over behind the bench.

Ersson, in his first start since April 5, nearly pulled off the win in regulation and kept the Flyers in the game, despite the massive shot deficit, but allowed Horvat’s late tying goal through traffic, which forced overtime. After a quiet overtime period, Ersson went 5-for-5 in the shootout to earn the Flyers the win.

“I thought he was good all game,” Shaw said. “I loved him in the shootout. He had a little bit of swagger. I like when we see that from Sam. Usually bodes well for how many pucks he’s going to stop.”

The Flyers have just three games remaining and are sure to make roster changes in the offseason. Shaw, as interim coach, may or may not be in the organization come opening night in the fall. But for the Flyers’ rebuild to be a success, the young players in the organization need to make that next jump, and the final stretch gives the NHL’s third-youngest team the opportunity to sink or swim. So far, signs are trending positive.

“We have a lot of young guys that I think are going to be key pieces here for a long time,” Shaw said. “As a staff, we feel it’s our duty to the organization to try and keep them playing as focused and as disciplined as we can.”