April 08, 2026
The most important names to the Philadelphia Flyers are the ones who left the New Jersey Devils tied up in knots Tuesday night in Newark.
Trevor Zegras and Tyson Foerster scored twice each, and in the sequences that all led to those goals, Owen Tippett, Porter Martone, and Matvei Michkov lent a hand in a 5-1 rout that brought the Flyers' playoff hopes one step closer to reality.
And hey, if the Flyers keep playing this way, led by their young and emerging stars, they will be.
"They stood to the challenge," head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame.
They've been doing it ever since returning from the Olympic break, and especially so after Martone signed just over a week ago and since Foerster returned from injury just days ago.
Maybe they're ready to carry it into the postseason now, too.
Zegras scored the night's first two goals, reaching a career-best 25 for the season, and did it quick.
Tippett, with a tear down the wall and behind the net that took up too much of the Devils' attention, and left Travis Sanheim and then Zegras at the front all alone, set up the first. Then a power-play rush down the entire ice with Martone led to the second, not even two minutes later, when the rookie jammed a pass through to the front of the crease that a crashing Zegras was able to tap in off the blade of his stick.
Off the bat, a Devils team that has had its season going south was overwhelmed, while the Flyers were clearly keeping their momentum rolling the other way.
Then Foerster got his looks in the second period.
Goaltender Dan Vladar made a stop of a slapshot that rebounded all the way to the opposite wall, and Michkov, a step ahead to the puck, made a swipe at it that switched possession and jumped Foerster and Tippett down the ice on an odd-man rush.
Foerster, with plenty of time, opted to keep the puck and take the shot that made it 3-0, and just like Zegras, the play would find him again not long after.
An off-the-mark centering pass by the Devils down in the Philadelphia zone went sailing the other way, Foerster went in a chase after it, and suddenly, it was him, Michkov, Zegras, and one lone Devil trying to stop them charging at the net down the other way.
Foerster dropped the puck off for Michkov, he tossed it to Zegras by the right side of the net, and with the New Jersey defenseman caught on an island, Zegras sent the puck across to an open Foerster, who had a wide-open net to pocket the shot into for a 4-1 lead.
For a team that never really seems to leave their fans breathing easy, they left nothing much to fret about Tuesday night, and Nick Seeler's empty-netter at the end made certain of that.
The Flyers have not only climbed their way back up the standings to occupy a playoff spot at third in the Metropolitan Division, but they're rolling with it.
They've won three straight games now, they're 7-3-0 across their last 10, and they're playing with a clear spark that's coming from the players that the organization has been working to develop as the next core.
Tippett has been on the most consistent stretch of his career following the trade deadline, with some of the strongest hockey he's ever played. He's leading the Flyers with career-best-matching 28 goals, and at the rate he's been going, he can cross over into 30-goal territory.
Zegras, who has gotten his look at center for the last stretch of the season, seems to keep getting better at driving and directing the puck through the middle of the ice, especially skating on a line with Foerster and Tippett as his strength on the wings for Tuesday night.
Trevor Zegras has risen to the occasion as the top-six center the Flyers need.
Michkov's second season has been polarizing, for a lot of reasons, but for just as many reasons, there's still plenty of belief that he can be a star playmaker, and quietly, he's had improving play that coincides with the Flyers' current hot streak.
The 21-year-old had two assists on Tuesday night, a three-point night in the 4-1 win over the Islanders last Friday, with a big goal and two assists, and going back through the past 12 games, Michkov has 12 points and a plus-6 rating. The highlight-reel moments haven't necessarily been there, but the impactful little plays are, so soon enough, the rest should follow.
And then there's Martone and Foerster.
The rest of the Flyers' roster has seemed to have trouble all season making just one too many passes and not taking the shot when they have it, but since Martone joined the team out of college at Michigan State and Foerster returned from an upper-body injuy sooner than expected, they have two strong presences on the ice now who are constantly looking to shoot when they have the puck.
That alone has made a massive difference.
Martone, since debuting on March 29 in Washington, has just one goal (a big one of an OT winner against Boston, mind you), but with 22 shots taken and three times where he's had the game-high in shots on goal (3/31 at WSH, 5; 4/2 vs. DET, 9; and 4/5 vs. BOS, 5).
And Foerster, who very well could've gone well beyond 30 goals for the season had he not gotten hurt, has taken 12 shots in his four games since returning, which includes his two goals and four shots against the Devils.
Foerster, with a strong and hard-skating game along the wall, was always willing to step off of it and into the open to shoot before, which kept the Flyers afloat before his injury. But now he's hopped right back in without hardly missing a beat, and that might just propel them into the playoffs now.
"This is what you play for," Foerster said. "We're looking forward to more."
But he'll be one of the important names that decides if they do end up getting there.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
