Cates scores twice to help Flyers rally to beat Panthers 4-3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Noah Cates scored two goals and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from behind twice to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Monday night.

Garnet Hathaway and Morgan Frost also scored for Philadelphia, which had multiple power-play goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. Sam Ersson made 20 saves as the Flyers won their second straight.

Sam Reinhart had two goals and Uvis Balinskis also scored as Florida lost for the sixth time in nine games. Sergei Bobrovsky had 25 saves.

Cates scored both goals in the third period, the first on the power play and the second on a breakaway. It was his second career multigoal game — first since his rookie season in April 2022.

Philadelphia trailed 2-0, tied the score and then gave up the lead again before scoring twice later in the third period to take the lead for good.

Panthers: Reinhart had his fifth multigoal game of the season and scored multiple goals in consecutive games for just the second time in his 11-season career. Reinhart also scored twice in Florida's overtime loss to Boston last Saturday.

Flyers: Cates, who centers the Flyers' third line, has totaled eight goals and six assists in his last 15 games.

The Philadelphia power play ranks at the bottom of the NHL, but the consecutive passes from Jaime Drysdale and Matvei Michkov that set up Frost's goal that tied the score at 3-3 came after the Flyers had already overcome one deficit and immediately fell behind again.

7 - The number of times the Flyers have come from behind this season when trailing after two periods to earn at least one point. They have won six of them, including Monday, tied for the most in the NHL with Vegas.

Panthers play at New Jersey on Tuesday, and Flyers visit Columbus.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Philadelphia Flyers' Travis Sanheim, left, and Florida Panthers' Tomas Nosek collide during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Ryan Poehling, left, and Garnet Hathaway celebrate after Poehling's goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Noah Cates, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Morgan Frost celebrates after scoring a goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Florida Panthers' Nate Schmidt, right, and Philadelphia Flyers' Scott Laughton battle for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Florida Panthers' A.J. Greer (10) and Philadelphia Flyers' Garnet Hathaway (19) collide during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Cam York, left, and Florida Panthers' Anton Lundell collide during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Samuel Ersson, left, and Sean Couturier celebrate after an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Noah Cates, right, and Tyson Foerster celebrate after a goal by Cates during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 33 points, 20 in the first quarter, and the Phoenix Suns pulled away in the second half for a 129-102 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

Dillon Brooks scored 18 points and Mark Williams had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who have won five of their last six. They bounced back from Wednesday’s loss at Cleveland. Booker, Brooks and Williams all sat the entire fourth quarter.

Collin Gillespie and Oso Ighodaro each had 15 points for Phoenix. Reserve Jamaree Bouyea scored 12 for the Suns, who led by 28 points late in the game.

Booker finished 13 of 21 from the field — just 1 for 6 from 3-point range — and 6 of 7 from the free throw line in 28 minutes. He was 8 of 12 in the first quarter in scoring 20 of the Suns’ 32 points. It was Booker's highest-scoring quarter since April 2024, when he also scored 20.

The Suns led 62-56 at the half but opened it up in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18 before ending the period with a 97-83 lead.

Keegan Murray led the Kings with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Sacramento lost its fourth in a row, and sixth straight on the road to fall to 8-27.

Russell Westbrook had 17 points and six assists for the Kings, and Keon Ellis finished with 14 points.

Kings: Host Milwaukee on Sunday.

Suns: Host Oklahoma City on Sunday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Sacramento Kings guard Demar Derozan (10) fouls Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) goes up to shoot over Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks shoots over Sacramento Kings guard Nique Clifford (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives past Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)