May 07, 2026
James Guillory/Imagn Images
Porter Martone's line with Denver Barkey and Alex Bump for Game 2 on Monday night was yet another promising glimpse of the Flyers' future.
In the moment, Porter Martone could only see the minus-2 on the stat sheet.
The Flyers rolled out a "kid line" consisting of Martone, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump for Game 2 of their second-round playoff series in Carolina on Monday night.
All three were rookies, and none was older than 22.
And in the big picture of becoming the future Stanley Cup contender that the Flyers one day hope to be, that's huge.
But in the moment, their line was on the ice for Seth Jarvis' game-tying goal in the third period, and Taylor Hall's overtime winner to put the Hurricanes up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, while leaving the Flyers with a steep climb finally coming back to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Thursday.
And it's that minus-2 for all three of them on the stat sheet that really bothered Martone after the fact.
"Obviously, you could look at the end of the game and see we're a dash two, on for two crucial goals against," Martone said following the Flyers' practice in Voorhees on Wednesday. "It was just tough. I think we're three competitive kids, and we hold each other to a high standard. That was a tough pill to swallow."
But hardly an albatross either.
That line was generating chances, and Martone knew that.
Before the Hurricanes turned up the ice to set Jarvis up with a drop pass and a shot that tied the game midway through the third, Barkey and Martone led a rush and a scoring chance straight toward the Carolina net. Their only mistake was finding themselves too far down in the offensive zone after the play was broken up, when Carolina is often so quick to get back up the ice.
And in other pockets throughout Monday night, that line was skating with energy and generally doing well to carry the puck forward.
Denver Barkey has opened some eyes skating as a center against Carolina.
James Guillory/Imagn Images
Barkey, especially, has impressed head coach Rick Tocchet so far this series with his switch over to center from the wing. The 21-year-old stepped up through Games 1 and 2 as one of the Flyers' more ferocious skaters. But for Tocchet, the real key is Barkey's defensive awareness. That part of his game has taken a hit with the switch.
"I actually liked him," Tocchet said Wednesday after practice. "He hasn't been a defensive liability as a center. I mean, I'll be honest, I'm looking at video and it's not like he's hemmed in."
But then his line just had the tough luck of being caught on the ice in OT for that last bounce that hopped to Hall's stick to put past Dan Vladar's outstretched pad, all as they were scrambling to try and clear that puck away.
That part bothered Martone, but not the overall effort and thinking.
And in the big picture for the Flyers, that's huge.
"Looking back, I honestly think we played a pretty good game," Martone said. "We created chances, for the most part of the game, we stayed out of our own zone, and most of our play was smart neutral zone decisions and play in the offensive zone.
"Obviously, it comes with experiences. We gotta keep pucks from our net, and like I said, it's a tough pill to swallow. But hopefully we get the chance to bounce back tomorrow. Come in, do what we do best, and hopefully win the game."
The Flyes' potential line combinations for Game 3 weren't quite clear leaving Wednesday's practice, largely because Noah Cates (done for the series) and Christian Dvorak (day-to-day) were off the ice due to injury.
So there's no certainty whether the Bump-Barkey-Martone line will remain together, or if they'll each get shuffled elsewhere up through the lineup.
But they're all key pieces to the Flyers' future, who each fought to get here now.
Martone was the sixth-round draft pick who tore through the collegiate season at Michigan State, then jumped right over to help make that last push into the playoffs after fans had anticipated his arrival for almost a year.
Barkey was an undersized third-rounder from a couple of years prior, who climbed the prospect ladder quick, made it up to the NHL much sooner than even the organization expected, and has skated like he belongs ever since, with a seemingly endless motor.
And Bump was the late-round, breakout college star at Western Michigan, who had a few stumbles in the minors and then up with the Flyers this season, but still hopped into the lineup after multiple games of sitting to bring the physicality and willingness to shoot that the team needed to finally get past the Penguins last round, and need even more of against the Hurricanes for this one.
And as a line on Monday night, they had their moments. Martone knew that.
But then they had their missteps on the way to a loss, which now has the Flyers backed up against a wall, and right now, that part bothers him.
But down the line, for the Flyers' big picture, having all three play in that spot together is huge – mistakes and all.
"You play at this kind of pace, you play at this kind of high stakes, it really is huge for the development of the guys," Tocchet said during an earlier Zoom call with the media on Tuesday. "Just imagine if we didn't make the playoffs, and these guys never got the experience. This is huge, and I think going into Game 3, I think you'll see more improvement.
"Our team improved from the first game to the second game, and I think the young guys were in that boat. So yeah, really excited for those guys to play in this kind of atmosphere."
Alex Bump's strength along the walls and shoot-first approach to offense was what the Flyers needed getting late into the Penguins series and on into the Hurricanes one.
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