Noah Cates scored his first career overtime goal to propel the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Owen Tippett also scored for the Flyers, while Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal since joining the Wild. Philadelphia’s Dan Vladar (15 saves) and Minnesota netminder Jesper Wallstedt (19 saves) held firm in the low-scoring contest.
Vladar made a glove save midway through overtime and kept the play alive, sending Jamie Drysdale up the ice. Tyson Foerster dropped a pass to Cates and took out a Wild defenseman, allowing Cates to get a clean look at the decisive wrister from the slot.
Minnesota had a terrific scoring opportunity earlier in overtime. Brock Faber made a great move and fed across the slot to Joel Eriksson Ek, whose shot sailed wide of a sprawling Vladar.
Following a scoreless first period, Tarasenko opened the scoring at 1:55 of the second. Marco Rossi gathered a loose puck and fed Tarasenko, who blasted a one-timer from the left circle past Vladar.
Philadelphia challenged the play for offsides, but the goal stood.
Wallstedt stopped Sean Couturier on a breakaway early in the third period, keeping the hosts off the scoreboard.
Midway through the third period, Wallstedt stopped a shot from Tippett. After the rebound went behind the net, Tippett gathered it and sent a blind centering pass that ricocheted off Wallstedt and into the net.
Tippett led the Flyers with five shots, while Wild star Kirill Kaprizov was limited to two shots and was a minus-2 on the night.
Neither team cashed in on the power play. Minnesota was 0-for-3 with the man advantage while Philadelphia was 0-for-2 with an extra skater.
The Flyers held a significant edge in hits, 32-19.
Philadelphia concludes its four-game homestand Monday against the Seattle Kraken while the Wild have two games remaining on a five-game road trip that continues Monday against the New York Rangers.
