Bobby Brink, showing ‘deception,’ makes strong NHL debut in Flyers’ lopsided loss

Bobby Brink’s NHL debut was a success Tuesday night, but you could understand why he wasn’t gloating.

His Philadelphia Flyers were crushed by Washington, 9-2, at Capital One Arena.

“Definitely was hoping it could have been a little better with the result of the game,” Brink, 20, said of the loss, the Flyers most lopsided defeat of the season. “But it was definitely nice to play a game. It’s a dream come true.”

Brink, the 5-foot-9, 166-pound right winger who won the NCAA national title Saturday with the University of Denver, had an assist, four shot attempts (two on goal), two blocked shots, two hits, and an “even” rating. (Denver listed him at 5-9, the Flyers list him at 5-8)

He played 14:27, including 2:15 on the power play. His assist came on James van Riemsdyk’s late power-play goal.

Interim coach Mike Yeo was pleased with Brink’s performance.

“He looks really good; he’s got deception in his game,” Yeo said. “It’s hard to be happy about a lot of things in the game, but I’m happy for him to get a point there, and I thought he added a lot to the power play tonight.”

Brink started on a line with Morgan Frost and van Riemsdyk (two goals), but he was shifted around because of an injury to right winger Cam Atkinson.

The Flyers lost goalie Carter Hart and Atkinson to first-period lower-body injuries, and both are expected to miss Wednesday’s game against the visiting New York Rangers.

“Obviously, we didn’t get the result that we wanted,” said Brink, who led the nation in points (57) and assists (43) with Denver this season. “We have much more to our game, I think. We have a chance to respond (Wednesday.)”

Brink was the eighth member of the Philadelphia Flyers to make his NHL debut this season. The others: Ronnie Attard, Noah Cates, Hayden Hodgson, Isaac Ratcliffe, Linus Sandin, Felix Sandstrom, and Max Willman.