Flyers hammer Penguins in opener of home-and-home set

Noah Cates had two goals and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 6-1 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday in the opening game of a home-and-home series.

Philadelphia's line of Cates, Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster was on the ice for four of the team's six goals. Brink finished with a goal and three assists while Foerster chipped in one goal and set up two others.

Samuel Ersson made 23 saves for the Flyers, who won for the third straight time. Alex Nedeljkovic allowed all six goals on 38 shots as the Penguins dropped their fourth in a row.

Rasmus Ristolainen opened the scoring less than four minutes into the contest with a one-timer from the left circle. Cates made it 2-0 later in the opening period, unleashing a perfect snapshot from the top of the same circle.

Pittsburgh's only tally came early in the second off a nifty flip pass from Michael Bunting, who lobbed it into the offensive zone, just in front of the net. Philip Tomasino caught up to it, in stride, and made a quick move to his backhand, beating Ersson.

However, the Flyers responded with three goals in the latter half of the second period.

Foerster began that blitz with a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Jamie Drysdale. Then, late in the period, Foerster's shot resulted in a loose rebound in front of the net, and Cates poked it home for his 12th of the season.

Philadelphia coach John Tortorella rewarded the line with another shift following that goal -- and his move paid immediate dividends 10 seconds later, when Cates' centering feed caromed off Brink and into the net.

The Flyers' final goal was a nifty one. About six minutes into the third period, Matvei Michkov stole the puck in front of the Pittsburgh net and made a quick pass to Sean Couturier, who promptly fed Owen Tippett on the doorstep for a tic-tac-toe goal.

Michkov finished with two assists for Philadelphia, which will travel to Pittsburgh for a rematch on Thursday.

--Field Level Media