Flyers keep playoff hopes alive, thump Blackhawks

Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates and Alex Bump each registered a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Thursday evening.

Samuel Ersson made 25 saves for Philadelphia (35-24-12, 82 points), which has won six of its last eight games to make some late noise in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Denver Barkey and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers.

Chicago (27-32-13, 67 points) remains well out of postseason contention following its fifth loss in seven games.