Young Egor Zamula trying to learn from his mistakes with the Flyers

TEMPE, Ariz. ― Egor Zamula knows what he did wrong in his last game.

The young Flyers defenseman, who has been in and out of the lineup all season and has only played once in the last five games, got beat 1-on-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 30. He didn’t give up a goal — he actually ranks second on the team in plus-minus (plus-10) behind Nick Seeler (plus-12) — but it’s something he has been working on all week.

“I work with coaches, we watch videos; coaches like to help me, like D partners as well,” Zamula said. “So I’m learning from that some. I think I had a lot of times stick in both hands, but [the stick] needs to go into one hand. So he teaches me in the video. … I need to put my stick in one hand when they do go 1-on-1. It’s a learning process.”

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The learning was set to continue against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night at Mullett Arena when he was to suit up alongside veteran blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen. They were paired together in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils and had a Corsi For of 54.55% across 12 minutes and 2 seconds when on the ice together, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“He’s a strong, good skater,” Zamula said of Ristolainen. “He talks to me a lot on the ice, helped me to do some breakouts, and helps me with playing in front of the net.”

Like Zamula, Bobby Brink will be skating for the first time at Mullett Arena. But unlike the Russian defenseman, Brink knows a thing or two about playing at a college hockey rink.

The 22-year-old forward was a standout at the University of Denver for three seasons, where he not only led the nation in scoring with 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) in 41 games in 2021-22, but also won an NCAA title.

Although he did play against Arizona State during his college days, he never skated at Mullett. He also never skated at Ball Arena, the next stop on the Flyers’ schedule when they take on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

“I’m excited. I think it should be a fun game. I’m excited to go back there and play. Lots of great memories in that city,” said Brink, who did watch a few games from the stands at the Avalanche’s home rink.

Now he’s getting a chance to hit the ice with the Orange and Black and showcase a move he often tries in games. A right-handed shot, Brink likes to curl and cut across the slot from the left faceoff circle. It’s a move that drew a tripping penalty on Jordan Staal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 28, just 53 seconds in.

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“Just trying to get open, trying to create space,” he said. “You don’t get a lot of space out there and I think you kind of got to keep your feet moving. If you’re going to score goals, you got to get to the middle of the ice. So I think you just got to use the middle of the ice as much as you can.”

Of the 30 shots on goal Brink has this season, NHL Edge has registered 11 from the middle, with eight being high-danger shots from the slot to the top of the crease. Although two of his four goals have come from the middle of the ice, he is always keeping his options open for a shot or a pass.

“A lot of times it creates chaos, so it leaves guys open,” Brink said. “But I think you just got to read the play. If the play says to shoot, you got to shoot. But if they leave a guy open for a one-timer on the backside, you got to take advantage of that and make a play.”

Carter Hart started in net for the Flyers, who faced a Coyotes team that is on a five-game heater. Each of the wins for Arizona came against one of the last five Stanley Cup champions.