PHILADELPHIA — The goal, as they so often do, started with a cerebral play in the defensive zone. Late in the third period of a 2-2 game between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on March 23, Tyson Foerster had to make a split-second decision on a puck that was gliding toward opponent Danton Heinen in the corner.
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Foerster, as the closest Flyers player, could try and get his body on Heinen to tie him up or even take the puck away. But that’s not what he did. As he would later explain, Foerster figured that if Heinen chose to cycle the puck, it was covered by his teammates. So, he anticipated that Heinen would try and slide it back to the point, where defenseman Brandon Carlo would have been ready to accept it to probably fire a shot on goal through traffic.
It was the correct decision. Heinen’s pass ended up in Foerster’s skates, and in one motion the Flyers forward pivoted and moved the puck to his stick blade and headed up the ice on an odd-man rush with linemates Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway. He pushed a pass to Poehling at center ice, found another gear charging up the wing, received a backhand pass back from his centerman and unleashed a top-corner wrist shot past goalie Linus Ullmark with a minute and a half to go.
It was the key play in a 3-2 Flyers win.
“You can see the brain he has for positioning, and the poise he had to pick up the puck,” Hathaway said. “It was in his feet, turns around, gets the puck to the middle with Pails (Poehling), picks up a puck with his backhand, and then shoots top shelf. That’s kind of a microcosm of putting everything together in his game, and in that one play.”
I asked former NHL defenseman and current NHL Network/New York Islanders analyst Thomas Hickey how he saw that play develop, too.
“He’s a winger. He thinks about getting involved but sees his defender coming in,” Hickey said. “He’s in trouble if he goes (to Heinen) and that pass goes up to the blue line. So, good decision to get out of there by him.
“Did he bait the Boston player? Maybe. But, good awareness to get out of there, and the puck found him.”
TY, TYS. #BOSvsPHI | @tfoerster8 pic.twitter.com/K28o8nQjhF
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 23, 2024
It was just one play, of course, but it’s reflective of Foerster’s hockey sense — something that Flyers coach John Tortorella has been praising since the start of the season. That, and Foerster’s ability to win board battles and play responsible defense is why he has skated in 70 of the Flyers’ 75 games this season, missing only the season opener as a healthy scratch and four games in mid-February with a foot injury from blocking a shot.
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Lately, though, the 22-year-old Foerster has taken another step in his development offensively. Headed into Saturday’s game with the Blackhawks, he is the Flyers’ leading scorer over the last two months, with 12 goals in 21 games since Jan. 27. That’s after he managed just one goal in his first 21 games this season.
“I think (earlier) I was getting a couple Grade A (chances) a game. Not being able to score stunk, but I started finding a way,” Foerster said. “I wanted to bring that to my game, is defense first. It’s been working for me now.”
It’s also why Tortorella put Foerster on a line with Poehling and Hathaway, replacing Noah Cates. While that line with Cates was doing some good things, it was bereft of finish — something that has clearly not been lacking in Foerster’s game lately.
“That’s what we’re hoping for is maybe they can bang a goal in,” Tortorella said on Tuesday before the Flyers’ 6-5 overtime loss to the New York Rangers, in which Foerster scored a game-tying goal with 3:31 left in the third period, forcing overtime.
“Remember, Tyson was not scoring for a while during the year and that’s all we talked about was how well he checked. So he can play in that type of role, too, and also bury a goal or two.”
Saturday’s game with the Blackhawks was the seventh straight that Foerster, Poehling and Hathaway started on a line together. Through the first six, they controlled 71.4 percent of the shots on goal at five-on-five, 70.6 percent of the expected goals per Natural Stat Trick, and outscored the opposition 3-1.
“It’s great. Those guys just create so much,” Foerster said earlier this week about his two new linemates. “They both fly around the ice. Garny (Hathaway) forechecks hard, hits everything in sight. The puck finds a way to get to me. We’ve been trying to shut down the other team’s top line, too, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”
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Hathaway noticed all the little things Foerster was doing from his view on the bench. Now that they’re on the ice together, his ability is even more perceptible.
“That detail in the D-zone I think has been huge,” Hathaway said. “I’ve noticed a lot of times he’s in the right spot to pick off passes, to be in the shot lane. Just kind of divert things around him, and push other guys into pressure. And then you see the goal against Boston. Aside from his shot, which everyone knows about, he’s in the right spot in the D-zone and picks off a pass.”
Foerster has a chance to lead NHL rookies in goal scoring this season, with a strong finish. But even if he doesn’t get anymore between now and the regular season finale on April 16, Tortorella is confident he’ll contribute in some way, shape or form.
He’s been doing that all season, whether the goals have been there or not.
“I can’t remember all my players but I don’t remember a player that was equipped so quickly,” Tortorella said. “That’s why he’s played the minutes, and played most of the games this year.”
(Photo: Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty Images)