Atkinson ends drought, Ersson shines and Flyers grab another signature…

Atkinson ends drought, Ersson shines and Flyers grab another signature win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Cam Atkinson chucked the monkey off his back Saturday night to lead the Flyers to a validating, 2-0 win over the Jets at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The veteran winger put his 26-game goal-scoring slump to rest by scoring both of the Flyers’ markers.

Samuel Ersson was superb in net, pitching his third shutout of the season.

This was a tall order for the Flyers (23-14-6), who were without first-line center Sean Couturier (minor injury) and recent trade acquisition Jamie Drysdale (illness). They also played the night before in St. Paul, Minnesota while the Jets, the NHL’s top club, waited for them to arrive.

And the Flyers still found a way to blank Winnipeg.

John Tortorella’s club has won three straight and the first two games of a challenging three-game road trip.

The Jets (28-10-4) came in with a league-leading 60 points, eight straight wins and a 14-game point streak (12-0-2).

Winnipeg was also shorthanded, missing leading scorer Mark Scheifele (lower body) and leading goal scorer Kyle Connor (knee).

The Flyers see the Jets again Feb. 8 in Philadelphia to wrap up the two-game regular-season series.

• It’s over halfway through the season and the Flyers are still picking up signature wins.

They still hold a playoff spot in a loaded race.

If they stay mostly healthy, it’s really starting to look like they can make something of this season, one that was originally viewed as a rebuilding campaign.

The Flyers have six wins over top-10 clubs. Against the Canucks and Jets, the top two teams in the league, the Flyers have gone 3-0-0 by a combined score of 8-1.

They’re currently a top-10 team, as well, with the 10th-most points.