By now, you've already heard the story. It's starting to spread across the NHL as the Flyers continue to rally and push into the playoffs. With the call-up of Portone Martone looming, a wounded warrior stormed into head coach Rick Tocchett's office and demanded to play too. Earlier this season, Tyson Foerster had a freak injury that sidelined one of the best scoring players on the team.
In 21 games, he had scored 10 goals. If you extrapolate that to a full season, that would be close to a 40-goal season. No Flyer had done that since Jeff Carter scored 46 in 2008-09. His presence was immediately felt. His absence removed a huge scoring threat from the lineup, and it is no surprise that Philly's swoon started in December and continued through January with Foerster out.
Since his return, he has scored three goals in four games, including two quick goals against the New Jersey Devils to help knock them out of the playoff race. He looks hungry. He looks as if he is trying to make up for lost time. He has been sharing a line with Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett, after starting the year with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink.
With Foerster sharing a line with Zegras, he's exploded. Zegras has two goals and three assists in the last four games. Likewise, Tippett has scored one goal with two assists in those four games. This new line combination is giving opponents fits. This line has ripple effects across the whole team.
Christian Dvorak had been centering a line with Zegras and Tippett. Now he is sharing a line with Travis Konecny and Martone. In the last four games, Konecny has one goal, Dvorak has one goal with two assists, and Martone has three assists and that big-time goal in overtime. So now, the Flyers have two legit scoring lines. That's something this team hasn't had in about a decade. Meanwhile, Cates has been centering Alex Bump and Matvei Michkov. That's a pretty strong third line there.
Foerster's comeback has also been a great inspiration for the younger players like Denver Barkey and Martone. It was believed that Foerster was out for the year. However, he is deeply committed to this team and wanted to return to help the Flyers break their five-year playoff drought. For the rookies, this shows that the team matters over everything else.
These guys are all playing for each other right now. There is a chemistry that is building and rising as these players are lifting each other. Likewise, the more confident this team gets, the more dangerous they become. If they make the playoffs, there is a good chance they might sneak past the first round.
And Foerster has a lot to do with this. His return has been a big spark to this team. He is helping to make the players around him better, and he is being a great role model in how to lay it all out for the team. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had he played all year. Since we can't change the past, we only know what is going on now.
Right now, the Flyers are the hottest team in the NHL and are making a serious run at the playoffs. Foerster's return could help propel them into a deep playoff run.