After suffering a pair of one-goal losses to Stanley Cup contenders on the road, the Flyers had a quality response at home Thursday night with a 6-2 rout of the Wild.
The Flyers raced out to a 3-0 lead through two periods at the Wells Fargo Center and answered a Minnesota push in the final stanza.
Travis Sanheim had a three-point performance with a goal and two assists.
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"He's just on a different level this year," Owen Tippett said. "It's fun to watch. He's driving the back end right now. He's a great player and he has been huge for us."
The 27-year-old defenseman is playing some of the most minutes in the NHL and has eight points over seven games (one goal, seven assists).
"I'm up his ass all year long last year, he's in trade talks, all that stuff," head coach John Tortorella said. "His skill level hasn't changed, his skating hasn't changed. What has changed is his mindset. He has shown us right from Day 1 that he's going to take control. ... I know it was a miserable year for him last year. I'm happy for him, I'm proud of him the way he has handled himself so far."
Bobby Brink scored his first career NHL goal and finished with two on the night.
NHL
"It's a pretty special moment, I've been thinking about it forever," the Minnetonka, Minnesota native said. "A lot of years of hockey and a lot of stuff leading up to this moment. A lot of sacrifices from my parents and family, grandparents and aunt and uncles. It's just a really special moment for me and my family."
Joel Farabee found Brink on his second goal. The two have been very good together.
"That pass by Joel is just an unbelievable pass," Brink said. "I didn't see any room even and he fits it through there at the last second right on my tape. They don't come much easier than that."
Tippett, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier also found the back of the net.
Cam Atkinson finished with three helpers.
The win was a good start to a four-game homestand for the Flyers (4-2-1). Tortorella's club is 3-0-0 at home and has outscored the opposition 12-3.
The Flyers don't see the Wild (3-3-1) again until Jan. 12, when they'll wrap up their two-game regular-season series in St. Paul, Minnesota.
• The Flyers' power play entered the night 1 for 20 through the first six games. It went 2 for 3 against the Wild as Couturier scored a greasy one by the blue paint and Brink followed it up about two and half minutes later.
The man advantage markers put the Flyers in what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead at second intermission.
But Minnesota stormed out of the gate in the third period with two goals in the opening 4:30 minutes of the frame.
It looked like the Flyers' lines were shaken up a bit to start the period.
"No, I couldn't get my lines back together because we got caught out there," Tortorella said. "We couldn't get out of our end zone. I forget how it all worked. But I had to wait for a timeout to get my lines back together. I don't think that helped the situation there when they scored a couple. I just couldn't get them back together."
After they were put back together, Tippett responded with a huge goal to cushion the Flyers' lead to 4-2. It was all Flyers from there.
"Tipper's breakaway there really put them away," Couturier said. "It brought us back in the game and kind of let us take over from there."
• Carter Hart converted 26 saves on 28 shots for his fourth win.
"Don't forget how good Carter Hart was at certain times in that game," Tortorella said. "He played very well."
Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson stopped 29 of the Flyers' 35 shots.
• There was a heavyweight bout just two seconds into the game when Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Pat Maroon. Good fight.
• The Flyers sent prospect Emil Andrae to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley. The club is high on his future.
The 21-year-old defenseman is playing his first full season in North America on the smaller rink. After Andrae's first four games in the NHL, the Flyers felt he needed more experience with the Phantoms.
"It's too much for him right now," Tortorella said Thursday morning. "The speed of it, how quickly you have to make decisions, I think the size of the rink, which comes into play [with] how quickly you do have to play in the NHL. You just weigh it out. 'Is this good for him right now?' And we thought it wasn't."
The Swedish blueliner played 13 minutes per game in his four appearances with the Flyers. He was a big-minutes guy in the SHL, Sweden's top pro league, last season.
"This isn't a negative thing. This is what we're going to do, it's going to happen to other people, too, I'm sure along the way this year," Tortorella said of sending prospects to Lehigh Valley. "Instead of playing him eight, 10, 11 minutes, he'll play 20-plus down there. It's so important as far as developing players."
Louie Belpedio and Victor Mete were called up from the Phantoms, giving the big club seven healthy defensemen. On Thursday night, the 27-year-old Belpedio played his fifth career NHL game and first since February 2021.
Tortorella said prospects like Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning hadn't earned a call-up yet.
"As much as we want kids all the time, you've got to do your work down there, too," the head coach said. "Because there's merit going on down there, also."
• After playing in 81 of the Flyers' 82 games last season, Morgan Frost has been a healthy scratch for five of the first seven games this season. The 24-year-old center hasn't played in 12 days.
Rasmus Ristolainen, on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue, did not skate Thursday. The Flyers don't have a timeline for his return as the defenseman's recovery has taken a step back.
• The Flyers are off Friday before welcoming the Ducks on Saturday (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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