Cates produced an assist and two hits in Saturday's 7-5 win over the Wild.

Cates found Sean Couturier for an empty-net goal to close out the high-scoring contest. Cates has made four appearances this season while being a healthy scratch for the other four games. He's played in three straight, indicating he may be gaining favor with head coach John Tortorella. Cates has added nine hits and one shot on goal in a bottom-six role. The 25-year-old put up 18 points in 59 regular-season contests last campaign, though he had 38 points in 82 games the year before.