Flyers’ Power Play Made the Difference in Game 3
Apr 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period in game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The Philadelphia Flyers are now up 3-0 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who face elimination come Game 4 on Saturday night. Though Pittsburgh scored first, the Flyers bounced back and took control with three unanswered goals and a 5-2 win.
The Flyers didn’t just bounce back with their first playoff goal in South Philadelphia in eight years, but they also responded with a power play goal. Their first goal on the man advantage was a huge one, as it led to two more goals within the span of six minutes.
After a scrum broke out after the whistle, careless actions from Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust would give him the extra two minutes, along with the mosh pit of players in the penalty boxes for both teams. After not converting on the first power play and on none of the power plays on the road, the Flyers absolutely had to score on this man-advantage with no exceptions. Not scoring on this chance would have greatly tanked the confidence. But it was all prevented. Trevor Zegras performed his patented one-timer at the right dot to lift the roof off of Xfinity Mobile Arena and tie the game up on the power play.
Especially in the playoffs, the great teams separate themselves from the good by taking advantage of the power play to put themselves right where they want them, and the Flyers did just that. Whether it was the confidence from the shutout victory in Game 2 or the crowd of the first playoff game in Philadelphia since 2018, the Flyers made a statement on the power play in Game 3.
With one of the assists going to Zegras’ best friend, Jamie Drysdale, it was only the cherry on top that Porter Martone made his first playoff appearance with three points in three games. Martone, who has absolutely killed on the power play with his positioning and body, found Drysdale at the point, and the rest speaks for itself.
“Thought we had some good looks, but obviously didn’t capitalize,” Zegras claimed after the game. “So nice to see one go on the power play.”
Zegras knows that he and this team have been working around the clock to fix this power play all season, making the goal a massive relief and a huge confidence booster.
The Flyers had established the fact that they can bring themselves back into the game through the power play, but in the third period, they also showed the world that they can use an extra man to pad on insurance, leading to the second power play goal of the night.
Noah Cates, while down at the net, decided to make a move on Pens goaltender Stuart Skinner instead of passing back to the point, a popular trend around the league on the power play that often results in losing the puck. Instead of passing, Cates turned himself around at the crease and brought the puck over with him to punch it through the left side for a beautiful insurance goal.
Power play goal scorer Noah Cates acknowledged the importance of a power play goal on the team beyond just scoring a goal on the scoreboard.
“To get a huge power play goal and to keep rolling from there was huge and it was a ton of fun,” Cates said postgame. “Got us going, got the crowd going.”
The Flyers, who had a power play percentage just over 15 percent in the regular season, had two players who had never seen playoffs before potting the puck twice on the advantage to overcome the Penguins in the 5-2 victory. They were 2-for-3 on the power play in Game 3. No one thought it could happen, but the Flyers are a good team with skill and experienced coaching. They knew what to do to pull themselves over the others; it was the power play.
Luke Raidy
Luke has covering the the Flyers and Phillies for Philly Sports Reports since 2025. He is a junior at North Penn and being a huge Philly sports fan has brought so many experiences, such as going to the NLDS, NLCS, and even the World Series in 2022. He has also met former superstars in the city of Philadelphia, such as Wayne Simmonds from the Flyers. Though being a student-athlete, Luke enjoys his time where he is writing and reporting on Philadelphia sports.
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