Flyers win first matchup vs. Gauthier; Michkov benched in 3rd period originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Back from the holiday break, the Flyers picked up a 3-1 win Saturday over Cutter Gauthier and the Ducks at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
It marked a positive start to the Flyers’ five-game road trip, especially for some players that have needed to be better.
Morgan Frost gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the third period and Joel Farabee pretty much put the game on ice with an empty-netter.
Samuel Ersson was strong in net.
The Flyers (16-16-4) got a goal from Noah Cates for a fifth straight game. They had to stem the tide after surrendering 5.60 goals per game over their previous five games, going 1-4-0 in that stretch.
The Flyers are 6-1-0 in their last seven trips to see the Ducks (13-17-4). The clubs meet again in two weeks at the Wells Fargo Center. It’ll be Gauthier’s first game in Philadelphia since he declined to sign with the Flyers.
• Before Gauthier’s anticipated visit to Philly, this was the first matchup between the 20-year-old winger and the club that drafted him fifth overall in 2022.
You probably know the gist of the story by now. The Flyers were forced to trade Gauthier in January because he didn’t want to play for the organization. It was a stunner considering Gauthier was initially excited to be a Flyer and was expected to be a pillar to the team’s rebuild.
Gauthier heard some faint boos from Flyers fans in attendance at Honda Center. He went scoreless with a plus-1 mark in 13:19 minutes. On the season, he has four goals and 10 assists through 34 games and 14:31 minutes per game.
Jamie Drysdale, who the Flyers acquired in the Gauthier trade, played 17:03 minutes in his first game against Anaheim. He went scoreless and had two blocked shots.
• A Flyer who probably needed the break more than anyone was Ersson. The 25-year-old had 32 saves on 33 shots to rebound from a rough stretch. Many of the stops were timely as the Flyers didn’t strike first until the second period.
The Ducks cracked him with 4:22 minutes left in the middle stanza on a nice shot by Troy Terry to make it 1-1 at intermission.
Prior to the win, Ersson had gone 2-4-0 with a 4.28 goals-against average and an .810 save percentage since coming back from a lower-body injury.
Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal stopped 22 of the Flyers’ 24 shots.
• Matvei Michkov didn’t play in the third period and saw 9:01 minutes total. The 20-year-old winger is on a season-long…