Cates-astrophe: Flyers lose ‘Mr. Consistency’ at worst possible time
VOORHEES, N.J. – With their center depth as thin as it was entering the playoffs, the Flyers knew they could ill-afford to lose any of their centers to injury.
And now, at a time when they are facing their steepest challenge of the postseason — trying to dig out of an 0-2 hole against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference semifinal — not only has the injury bug hit them, but it hit them in a spot that hurts more than most.
Noah Cates, arguably the team’s most reliable 200-foot center who plays in all situations at even strength and on the penalty kill, is out for at least the remainder of the series with a lower body injury.
Cates suffered the injury in Game 2 in Carolina. He was seen by several media members being carted back toward the Flyers locker room holding a walking boot in his hands.
It is unknow specifically when Cates suffered the injury, but he did take a hard pass off the inside of his right skate with approximately 8:30 to play in the first period of Game 2 that appeared to sting him in the moment.
“He’s a huge part of this, he’s Mr. Consistency, right,” said coach Rick Tocchet. “All year, he’s done a lot of things for us. But it’s no different than other teams. Next man up. You’ve heard the drill before.”
Tocchet said the initial plan is to keep Denver Barkey at center, move Trevor Zegras back into the middle, and have veterans Sean Couturier and Christian Dvorak — the latter of which is also dealing with an injury and missed practice Wednesday, but is considered day-to-day — to fill the void.
But that’s just at 5-on-5. Cates is going to have to be replaced on both the power play and the penalty kill as well.
Tocchet said that Carl Grundstom and Garnet Hathaway — the latter of which will get the first opportunity to check back into the lineup in place of Cates if Owen Tippett is also still out — will be asked to eat up some of Cates’ penalty kill minutes and Dvorak will be the second center to come out behind Couturier for faceoffs.
As for the power play, the Flyers are going to try and get Alex Bump some power play time, the question is will he play with the top unit, or will Tocchet turn to someone like Matvei Mickov or Porter Martone to move up to take Cates’ spot?
The coach wouldn’t dive into specifics, but did mention all of them by name.
Losing Cates is a big blow for the Flyers as he’s also one of the team’s best defensive forwards and other than the Logan Stankoven line, the Flyers have done a nice job through two games at neutralizing the Carolina offense. Cates was a big part of that.
One of the guys who is going to be turned to is Barkey, who wasn’t even playing center with any sort of regularity for the Flyers until this series,
Barkey is thought to be too undersized to play the position in the NHL, but he has the smarts to make up what he doesn’t have in size and stature.
Tocchet credited Flyers President Keith Jones with the idea to try Barkey at center.
“A couple weeks ago we were struggling a little bit at center and [Jones] came up to me and said, “Hey, don’t be afraid to use [Barkey],” Tocchet said. “One day I started using him there and I actually liked him. He hasn’t been a defensive liability.”
Barkey played center early in his career in juniors for the London Knights, but was shifted, his draft year, to the wing.
He said going back to center is an adjustment, but a challenge that he has embraced.
“I take pride in my game and being a versatile player,” Barkey said. “Being able to slide up and down the lineup and someone you can trust in all situations and in different positions.”
Barkey also added that he doesn’t feel there’s added pressure to perform up to the standard that Cates set — which came in a career-best year (18 goals, 29 assists, 47 points; plus-26) that could net him some down-ballot votes for the Selke Trophy.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure,” Barkey said. “I’ve done enough video and watched enough where we all know what to do out there,” Barkey said. So, I think in those moments it’s more just reacting. I know what to do, it’s just going out there and executing the gameplan.”
Tocchet Still Believes in Foerster, Konecny
It’s no secret that Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny have underwhelmed in the production department so far for the Flyers in the playoffs.
Konecny has just one goal and three assists for four points and Foerster has yet to register a point.
But they are both doing enough in their coach’s mind to stay in the lineup.
“[Foerster’s] not costing us stuff when he’s on the ice,” Tocchet said. “I know he’s not getting the goals but I’m a big believer that if you’re not scoring goals, you cannot be a liability. At least he’s doing that. … Even [guys like] Trevor and [Konecny]. You know [they’re] not scoring. You got to give them confidence in a sense that they got to do the other things. You know what? Sometimes you have to win a game 3-2 and if you’re not scoring you can’t be on the wrong side of the puck.”
Tocchet said he felt Foerster looked better in Game 2. For his part, Foerster feels like his game has been coming back to him over the last couple games.
“There’s not many battles I’ve lost,” Foerster said. And defensively and the penalty kill and stuff, I think [Cates] and I have done a great job on the PK. I’m just trying to help the boys any way I can.”
Jett Setting
After his OHL season finished up this week, Jett Luchanko joined the Flyers at practice.
There was some social media scuttlebutt that he could possibly be an option to go into the lineup to provide the Flyers with some speed against a fast Carolina team.
Then, once word got out that Cates wasn’t a participant at practice, that speculation grew to a fever pitch.
And while one can never say never, Luchanko isn’t getting into the lineup for Game 3. But down the line? It’s a definite maybe.
“If there’s some injuries, yeah,” Tocchet said. “If you are going to go deep in the playoffs, you can go to your 25th, 26th, 27th man on the roster. It doesn’t mean that if you are a young guy, you can’t play. We have other young guys. It’s also fast out there. There are some other elements to his game that he’s going to improve this summer, but year, there could be a possibility.”
Last Word on Possible Goalie Interference
Dan Vladar admitted that in the moment, he didn’t leave the ice because he was waiting to see if the NHL would review the Taylor Hall’s overtime game-winning goal for Carolina in Game 2 for goaltender interference.
His initial thought was that it was close enough to review, but he knew that because his glove was outside the crease, it likely wasn’t interference, but that it was close.
He told On Pattison that after the game he went to the video coaches and got a look at it and they concluded that although it was close, it was not goaltender interference.
So, that settles that.
