Flyers get early goals to power win against Blackhawks

PHILADELPHIA -- Alex Bump, Christian Dvorak and Noah Cates each had a goal and an assist for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Sean Couturier and Denver Barkey also scored, and Owen Tippett had two assists for Philadelphia (35-24-12). Samuel Ersson made 25 saves for the Flyers, who have won four of their past five and are 6-1-1 in their past eight games. They are five points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

It was an effort the Flyers felt they needed after a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at home Tuesday.

"I think it goes without saying we let them off the hook last game, everyone in this room kind of knew," Tippett said. "We knew that we needed a better effort today. I think we played kind of a full 60-minute game, and we played quick, played fast, and we didn't try and overcomplicate things."

Connor Bedard scored his 30th goal of the season for Chicago (27-32-13). Spencer Knight made 37 saves. The Blackhawks are 2-2-2 in their past six games.

"We made a couple tough errors that end up in the net, and so then it's a grind," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. "Now you're fighting momentum on the road. I thought we clawed our way back a little bit and then made another couple tough errors, and now a real uphill battle. I just thought collectively, we didn't have enough guys close to their best."

Bump gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 48 seconds of the first period. Knight gave the puck away behind his net, and Dvorak passed in front to Bump, who scored into an open net.

The rookie forward, playing his 10th game, had an assist on Cates' goal in the second period for his first multipoint NHL game.

"I think it's kind of been a little bit of a roller coaster," said Bump, who made his NHL debut March 7. "I've definitely had some tough games, but I've definitely also had some good games too. I think right now for me, it's just kind of coming each game, bringing my best game, and don't worry about anything else."

Bump also matched his season best with four shots on goal, which is what coach Rick Tocchet has wanted from him.

"There's a play where he came into the interior and shot it, I love that play," Tocchet said. "It was a (heck) of a shot, instead of deferring. I told him on the bench, do that every time. ... He's got that lethal shot so we're going to keep developing him so he can continue doing that for us."

Couturier made it 2-0 at 2:33. Luke Glendening intercepted Andre Burakovsky's backhand pass off the boards deep in the Chicago zone, threw the puck at the net and Couturier redirected it past Knight.

Barkey put the Flyers ahead 3-0 at 5:14 of the second period when he got to the front of the net and knocked in the rebound of a Trevor Zegras shot.

Bedard made it 3-1 at 11:11. Anton Frondell made a backhand pass from below the goal line that went through the crease to a charging Bedard, who one-timed it past Ersson from the right side.

"I haven't really thought about it at this point," Bedard said of reaching 30 goals for the first time in his three NHL seasons. "When you're in a game like that and you're down and you score one, it's obviously more just hoping that it creates a little momentum. It's not something you think about as much, but obviously, anything positive, so just kind of try to keep put myself in positions to get chances."

Cates made it 4-1 at 12:41 when he took a pass off the wall from Matvei Michkov, skated in alone on goal and slid a backhand past Knight's left skate.

Dvorak pushed the lead to 5-1 at 19:35 when he redirected Tippett's centering pass.

That all five goals came at the net is something Tocchet has been preaching all season, and this game might have been the best the Flyers have been at executing it.

"I thought we played interior tonight," Tocchet said. "Thought we had a couple backdoor (chances), we were always around the net tonight. A couple guys could have gotten some goals there too. That's a good thing. We have to build on it. We have to do it every night if we can."

NOTES: Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier left game with 6:40 remaining in the third period after getting cut on the face by a skate, but Blashill said he was OK. ... Bedard is the third Blackhawks player age 20 or younger with a 30-goal season, joining Jonathan Toews (34, 2008-09) and Eric Daze (30, 1995-96). ... Chicago forward Sacha Boisvert had one shot on goal and two penalty minutes in 9:03 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... The Flyers' 42 shots on goal matched a season high. ... Couturier also scored Tuesday, and has goals in back to back games for the first time since Nov. 26-28. ... Dvorak has five points (two goals, three assists) during a three-game point streak.