The Bruins Close The Season Series Vs. The Flyers With Their First Loss In Regulation To Them In '21

 

    Playing in their fourth game in the last six days, I can't blame the Bruins (21-11-6) for losing this afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center against the Flyers (19-15-6). Boston scored first and later tied it up at two but they eventually fell 3-2 as they closed the season series with Philadelphia with a more than solid 6-1-1 record. Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman (20 saves; 2-1) suffered the first loss of his NHL career as he made his third start in a row. This game meant a whole bunch to both clubs and their postseason aspirations but Philly understandably played like the more desperate group which makes sense because they entered outside the playoff picture. These two points pulled them within four points of the Bruins although Boston still has two games in hand over them.

    B's center Patrice Bergeron (6 goals, 3 assists) has been on fire lately with a seven-game point-streak that he extended with a power play goal at 5:38 of the first period. Right wing Craig Smith and left wing Brad Marchand had the assists on Bergy's 16th goal of the season. He had set up in the slot and even though Smitty's pass was in his skates, he took his time to gather the puck and fire it past Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott (30 saves, 11-5-1). Philadelphia tied it at one as right wing Travis Konecny put in a juicy rebound from defensemen Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim. It was Konecny's ninth goal of the season and it came at 11:51 of the first period. The Flyers took their first lead when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere tipped in a shot from Konecny at 17:46 for a power play tally. UNH's James van Riemsdyk added the second assist on Gostisbehere's seventh goal of the season. 

    Boston scored the lone goal of the second period as left wing Jake DeBrusk roofed a shot by Elliott at 11:45. Smith and BU's Charlie Coyle had the helpers on DeBrusk's fourth goal of the season. It's been a brutal season in terms of injuries for B's defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and unfortunately his bad luck continued as he left late in the second period with an upper-body injury and he never returned. Ugh. Philly center Sean Couturier scored the game-winning goal at 6:59 of the third period as Swayman got caught out of position leaving most of the net for Couturier to shoot at. His 12th goal of the season was assisted by BU's Joel Farabee and van Riemsdyk.

    This hellacious stretch finally ends tomorrow night (7, NESN) for the Bruins as they host the Capitals (26-11-4) at the TD Garden. Boston is 2-1-1 so far this week which includes a 4-2 home win against Washington on Thursday. Washington is in a dead heat with the Islanders for first-place in the Eastern Division as both teams are eight points ahead of the Black and Gold although the Bruins have three games in hand over both of them. Boston is 3-0-2 meaning that they haven't lost yet in regulation vs. Washington in 2021. The other rookie goaltender Dan Vladar is a lock to get the start tomorrow since Swayman needs a break while Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak remain out with an injury and Covid-19 respectively. 

It Took Overtime But The Flyers Finally Beat The Bruins 3-2 In Their Sixth Meeting Of The Season

 

    On Easter Sunday, the Capitals (25-9-4) completed a season sweep (8 games!) of the Devils (13-17-6) which makes sense because Washington is one of the best teams in the NHL and New Jersey is one of the worst-that is when they're not playing Boston (19-10-6). Tonight at the TD Garden, the Bruins put their own unbeaten record on the line against the Flyers (18-14-5) and it finally came to an end as Philly beat them 3-2 in overtime on defenseman Travis Sanheim's goal. The B's dropped to 5-0-1 against the Flyers in 2021 while Philadelphia closed to within three points of them for fourth-place in the East Division (Boston still has two games in hand over them). The same teams meet tomorrow night (7, NESN) at the Wells Fargo Center before they close the season series there on Saturday afternoon (2, NESN). 

    Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on the Bruins, granted not on the horrifying scale that the Canucks (16-18-3) are currently facing. This afternoon we found out that B's goaltender Jaroslav Halak had tested positive for the coronavirus and with Tuukka Rask still out (back injury), the team was forced to start rookie goaltender Dan Vladar (29 saves, 2-1-1) and dress another rookie Jeremy Swayman as the backup who had never appeared in an NHL game. Left wing Jake DeBrusk played in his first game since March 18 after he was sidelined with Covid-19. This is not to make excuses for Boston's loss this evening, only to point out that there are many things going on with the club both on and off the ice while the pandemic still unfolds all around us. 

    The last time that we saw the Flyers, the Bruins had buried them in the side of a mountain at Lake Tahoe. Things were obviously much different for them tonight than that embarrassing blowout defeat. Right wing Travis Konecny gave them a 1-0 lead at 10:15 of the first period as he put in a rebound. Center Claude Giroux and defenseman Ivan Provorov had the assists on Konecny's eighth goal of the season. Boston tied it at 17:33 on rookie right wing Karson Kuhlman's snipe over Flyers goalie Brian Elliott's (27 saves, 10-5-1) shoulder, off the post and in. BU's Charlie Coyle had the lone assist on Kuhlman's second goal of the season. 

    The Black and Gold notched the only goal in the second period which also gave them their lone lead of the tilt: center Patrice Bergeron one-timed in a nifty pass from right wing David Pastrnak on the power play 46 seconds into the frame. BU's Matt Grzelcyk provided the other helper on Bergy's 12th goal of the season. Philadelphia tied it in the third period with a power play tally of their own: center Sean Couturier's screened snap shot went by Vladar at 6:56. Provorov and BC's Kevin Hayes recorded the assists on Couturier's 11th goal of the season. Sanheim's goal was a lowlight for Bergeron as he tripped himself up skating backwards and trying to play defense on him, leading to a breakaway and the eventual game-winning goal. Sanheim's second goal of the season was unassisted and it came at 3:08. 

    Assuming that Halak is still out for tomorrow's rematch, does Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy choose to start Vladar again or go with Swayman in a very important matchup in terms of playoff implications? I'm not going to hold my breath for Rask to return tomorrow either so I believe it will be one of the rookie goaltenders in net on the road in a really big spot that happens to be the second half of a back-to-back set. On the other side, you wonder if Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault goes back to Elliott or he throws Carter Hart in there who has been nothing but a disaster lately? A Philly win in regulation would bring them within one point of the Bruins. Ruh roh.

UPDATE 4/6/21: Swayman will make his NHL debut tonight while defenseman Kevan Miller & right wing Chris Wagner both return to the lineup. 

The Bruins Mostly Slept Through The First Two Periods Then Fell 3-2 in a Shootout With the Flyers

When the Bruins got out to such an incredible start to this regular season-an unexpected surprise since they went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in June-you had to know that they would hit a slide soon enough. Going winless (0-2-1) in three games probably doesn't qualify them for that mode quite yet but it's plain to see that they haven't been nearly the same team in their last few outings. Tonight, they let the Flyers (10-5-2) score twice in the first period then they rallied in the third to send it to overtime and finally a shootout where they eventually lost 3-2. BU one-and-done Joel Farabee (who was a 1st round pick for Philly) scored the lone shootout goal-his first ever in the NHL-to clinch the two points for the Flyers.

It's tough to spot any opponent in the NHL a two-goal lead but especially one like Philadelphia who has been hot lately (7-2-1 in their last 10 games). Did I mention that the Bruins had a grand total of 10 shots on goal through the first two periods combined? Yuck. The positive that they can take out of this up and down performance is that they earned a point and in head coach Bruce Cassidy's words "we found our game in the 3rd which is something to build on."

The Flyers had actually played last night in Toronto-a familiar 3-2 shootout victory for the visitors-so you would have expected them to be the team with skates full of cement and sandbags in their pants. Nope, Boston could only manage five shots on goal in the first period and five in the second before exploding for 17 in the third. Philadelphia's second forward line made it happen in the opening frame as talented right wing Travis Konecny put in a rebound past Jaroslav Halak (27 saves, 4-1-2) at 13:50. Left wing Oskar Lindblom (3 goals and 4 assists in his last 7 games) and center Sean Couturier (3 goals, 5 assists in his last 7 games) had the assists on Konecny's eighth goal of the season which tied him with Lindblom for the team lead. That tally didn't serve as any sort of a wake up call to the B's as defenseman Philippe Myers had way too much space to blast a shot off the post and in at 17:56. His third goal of the season was assisted by Konecny and Couturier.

The Bruins appeared to get on the board early in the second period when Connor Clifton went to the net and Par Lindholm eventually put the loose puck by Flyers goaltender Carter Hart (26 saves, 6:31). Clifton grazed Hart's leg pad as he went plus Lindholm pushed Hart's pad/the puck over the goal line which sadly you can't legally do. It was a bizarre play since there was never a whistle on the ice but everyone (coaches, players, the crowd, etc.) waited for that to happen but it never did. Halak kept his team in contention by stopping Flyers captain Claude Giroux's backhand attempt on a breakaway.

It took way too long but the Black and Gold finally looked like themselves for the first time since Wednesday in Montreal. They completely dominated the third period as Danton Heinen was the unlikely catalyst for the home team (who got booed off the ice after the 1st period). He collected a puck next to Hart, spun around on his forehand and hit the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season. Charlie Coyle and Zdeno Chara had the assists on Heinen's momentum-changing tally. Brad Marchand tied it up with an absolute snipe at 12:22. Matt Grzelcyk had the lone assist on Marchand's 11th goal of the season. Philly was falling apart like you read about as defenseman Ivan Provorov (who played a game-high 27:26) slashed David Pastrnak on a breakaway. Hart would have none of it though as he stopped Pastrnak's second career penalty shot (he made the other).

The Bruins were charged with a too many men on the ice penalty in overtime which is incredibly rare but it occurred with less than 22 seconds left in the extra session so they lived to tell about it. Boston is 0-1 in overtime this season and they dropped to 0-2 shootouts while Philadelphia went to OT for the sixth time this season (1-0 in OT and 3-2 in SO). The Flyers can't get enough of extra hockey since they have needed it in three straight contests and five of their last six games. Coyle, Marchand and Pastrnak were all stopped while Farabee converted on Philly's first shot and Giroux was stopped by Halak. Torey Krug didn't appear in OT or the shootout because he was dealing with an upper-body injury.

Boston's top-ranked power play was never heard from as they only got two chances on the night but nevertheless they couldn't convert on either one of them. On the other end, their penalty kill was flawless (2-for-2). The Bruins still haven't lost in regulation at the Garden (7-0-2) this season while the Flyers moved to .500 on the road (4-4-1). Military Appreciation Night is on Tuesday (7, NESN) as the Panthers (8-4-5) come to town. That is always a fantastic event so hopefully some of those numerous inspirational people that will be honored by the team can also serve as good luck charms as the Bruins try to get back untracked after a frustrating blip on the schedule.

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Bruins Open 2014-15 With 2-1 Win Over Flyers

A pretty dull 2014-15 regular season opener got a jolt of energy late in the third period as Chris Kelly of all people notched the game-winning goal with 1:51 left in the third period. From there, Boston held on for a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia at TD Garden. The B's outshot the Flyers 33-20 but without David Krejci (who's on IR), Boston's reshuffled lines couldn't generate too many great scoring opportunities.

Steve Mason (31 saves) is Steve Mason so even though he had a fine game for nearly 59 minutes, his fatal mistake of trying to hit a floating puck with his blocker (rather than gloving it) led to Kelly's goal, probably the easiest non-empty netter of his career. Adam McQuaid and Carl Soderberg had the assists on Kelly's goal.

Reilly Smith only played two preseason games but that didn't matter since his chemistry with linemates Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron seemed to carry over to this season. He gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 10:39 of the first period with a power play goal. He one-timed a sneaky pass by Soderberg with Bergeron providing the second assist.

For a few days at least, the B's have a new cult hero: 32-year-old journeyman Bobby Robins who went to UMass Lowell and made his NHL debut last night after 499 games in the minors (that's insane). He's no Shawn Thornton but that's his job and he didn't disappoint, dropping the gloves with Luke Schenn in the second period.

Tuukka Rask (19 saves) appeared to be on his way to an easy shutout but Sean Couturier tied it at 4:19 of the third period. He redirected Jakub Voracek's pass with Matt Read also getting credit for an assist.

Boston didn't get too long to enjoy these two points as they hopped on a plane to Detroit (there is still an aiport there, right?). They'll face the Red Wings tomorrow night (7:30, NESN) in Detroit's season-opener. We already know that Krejci is out and Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk won't play either as he nurses a shoulder injury.

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