At just 19 years old, rookie Porter Martone is already pushing the Flyers toward a playoff run

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Porter Martone heard Flyers fans erupt on his game-winner — the teenager's first NHL goal , in overtime, and with playoff positioning at stake — and he wanted to get another look on the big screen. Only problem was, teammate Trevor Zegras whirled the rookie around by the neck and the rest of the Flyers mobbed the ice and pinned Martone against the boards in a wild celebration worthy of a playoff victory. “Zegras got me in a pretty good headlock there,” Martone said with a laugh.

The 19-year-old Martone capped a fantastic first week in the NHL with a power-play goal to push the Philadelphia Flyers even closer toward ending a miserable playoff drought with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday. “Overtime winner as a first NHL goal, that’s pretty special,” Martone said. Martone has quickly proved pretty special as well and hasn't just gone along for the ride in the playoff push — he's tried to drive that train straight into the postseason.

Through his first three games, Martone took 15 shots on goal over 65 shifts and 50 minutes of ice time, the kind of production that made it clear coach Rick Tocchet has all the faith in the locker room that Martone is capable of handling a playoff-tested veteran's load. “Even on the bench, you tell him something, he's a very engaged kid,” Tocchet said. “He's not afraid to say something.

He was talking about the power play, ‘I'll be here, you be here. ' I like that, a young kid like that doing that. You can just tell he's been around.