Flyers’ line of Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster is clicking on this trip

LOS ANGELES — Chatting with the small Flyers media contingent in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday after the team returned to action with a spirited practice, John Tortorella spoke like a proud papa about Noah Cates.

“You never know, right?” he said. “You just never know when it clicks in on players, and I’m proud of him. Very quiet kid and out of the lineup at the beginning of the year, he takes it and he just gets himself ready, and I think he has established himself as a really good player offensively and defensively for us right now.”

Cates tallied five goals and nine points in 16 games at the end of the 2021-22 season after ending his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He had 38 points (13 goals, 25 assists) in 82 games during Tortorella’s first season with the Flyers when he was primarily moved from wing to center. But last season, he struggled to find his game and had just 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 59 games while missing 22 with a broken foot suffered Nov. 25 against the New York Islanders.

This season, Cates was a healthy scratch for four of the Flyers’ first five games with Jett Luchanko making his NHL debut. He started slowly with one assist in his first 12 games but has taken off since being united with Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster on — coincidentally — Nov. 25 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The trio has become the Flyers’ top line in terms of reliability, puck possession, puck support, energy, and, of course, production. According to Money Puck, the three players lead the Flyers’ forwards in puck possession across the last 10 games at five-on-five with Cates (59.9%) atop the list. Foerster (58.9%) and Brink (58.6%) are not far behind.

“We’re just doing the right things and playing hockey the right way and supporting each other,” Cates said after he scored for the fifth straight game in a 3-1 win against Anaheim on Saturday. “Kind of the message that Torts has given us, being close and supporting each other because there are breakdowns, but if you have a guy close for support, you can limit the breakdowns and teams countering on us. So I think the biggest thing is staying close, and every line should do that and can do that, and I think we’re a good example of it.”

The confidence they are showing is evident. In the 15 games they have skated together, they have a combined 25 points, with Foerster leading the way with 10. But Cates is clearly the driver on that line. He is the veteran among the trio at 25, and his checking and pressure game and puck support have given Tortorella the confidence to move him to the second power-play unit, too.

“He’s winning faceoffs. He has played well for a while now. His stick work, his strength on the puck, his utility for me, using him at the end of games, having two centers. Now he’s on the power play. He deserves to be on the power play,” Tortorella said. “And quite honestly, it’s a lesson for all the lines, as far as how those three are always together, the support of it.”

Let’s break down the support and why it works, focusing on Cates’ five-goal streak.

As Jack Johnson sang, “It’s always better when we’re together.” On the goal Saturday afternoon in Anaheim, Brink used his speed and legs to take the puck down behind the net before feeding Cates in the slot. Part of what worked well on this goal was Brink faking a move to the net that pulled Anaheim goalie Lukáš Dostál out of position. But if you look at the screenshot from the NBCSP telecast, the Flyers have four guys from the hash marks in — Cam York was up high — and have the five Ducks pinned low and all watching Brink. Foerster was right there with Cates for support and Travis Sanheim is at the right post as an option, too.

Willie Nelson may have been on to something when he sang: “I don’t wanna be the last man standin’, or wait a minute maybe I do?” Cates wasn’t the last man standing technically for his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins a week ago, but he was the final forward entering the zone. Because he was the trailer, no one was paying much attention to him as Brink, and, especially Foerster, were cutting the ice in half. Cates, who could have gone farther to the right, made the right play and didn’t go to the open ice. If he had, it would have not only made for a harder pass distance-wise, but the feed from Brink would have had a lower probability of getting through more sticks and bodies.

“They’re just together,” Tortorella said after the game against Pittsburgh. “They support the puck well. They spend a lot of time in the offensive zone because they’re around it, they’re not spread out. I think they’re checking very well. It’s been probably one of our better lines for quite a while here now.”

On his game-tying goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday, Cates was in front of the net and able to pounce on the rebound. A defensive-minded center — Travis Konecny told The Inquirer last year “He’s like the younger [Sean Couturier]” — Cates can be the net-front presence because his linemates are supporting the puck and being in positions where they can get back defensively if needed. At 6-foot-2, Cates was a big body in front of 6-3 Columbus goalie Elvis Merzļikins and outmuscled defenseman Zach Werenski for the marker.

Cates was wide-open down the slot and able to receive the pass from Brink because of the play the 5-8 forward made along the boards. Brink turned on the jets and outmuscled 6-foot defenseman Mikey Anderson to retrieve the puck. It was a play Brink could not pull off last year — as Tortorella said earlier in December, Brink “didn’t know how to spell ‘checking’ last year” — but has played hard on the puck this year and has been using his body to create time, space, and goals.

As the band They Might Be Giants knows, “Triangle wins.” One of the most basic offensive-zone strategies in hockey is having the forwards create a triangle. It is not only about puck support and having a high man but creates a bit of turmoil for the team defending. Just before the screenshot below of Cates’ goal against the Detroit Red Wings, the Flyers trio had a triangle in the left corner as they forechecked to recover the puck. Cates went from the corner to the front after they got it back and is once again screening the goalie — you can see in the screen shot the 6-1 Alex Lyon is trying to look around him — and the Flyers maintained the triangle. The shot by Foerster ended up going in off the body of Cates and in.