Boston Bruins' Jake DeBrusk celebrates his goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens in Boston, Saturday, March 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

By Mike Cratty | Follow me on Twitter @Mike_Cratty

Home: Boston Bruins

Away: Philadelphia Flyers

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak

Heinen – Krejci – DeBrusk

Bjork – Nordstrom – Wagner

Donato – Kuraly – Acciari

Defense

Chara – Carlo

Grzelcyk – Moore

Lauzon – Kampfer

Goalies

Halak

Rask

Philadelphia’s Lineup

Forwards

Giroux – Couturier – Konecny

Laughton – Patrick – Voracek

Lindblom – Weal – Simmonds

Weise – Lehtera – Knight

Defense

Provorov – Hagg

Gostisbehere – MacDonald

Sanheim – Gudas

Goalies

Elliott

Neuvirth

First Period

Coming off of a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, the Bruins came into this one looking to start a winning streak. With Charlie McAvoy, Kevan Miller, and now Urho Vaakanainen out of the lineup, Jeremy Lauzon is the next man up on the back end. The Bruins come into this one with a 6-1-2 record against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden in their last nine contests.

The game started out with some good back-and-forth on both sides of the ice. Jeremy Lauzon landed a solid open-ice hit on Oskar Lindblom. Most notably, the third line was buzzing with energy and offensive zone pressure for the Bruins.

At the 12:49 mark of the period, David Pastrnak and Claude Giroux were sent to the box for hooking and holding the stick respectively, creating a 4-on-4. The extra room to work on the ice did not prove fruitful in getting on the score sheet, but another opportunity came for the Bruins shortly after. Robert Hagg sat for two minutes after slashing Brad Marchand, creating a big chance for the Bruins to take advantage of being a man up. One shot on goal and two minutes later, both teams still held goose eggs on the scoreboard.

Zdeno Chara fell victim to an awkward delay of game penalty with just under two minutes to go in the period. The Bruins held off the Flyers’ power play for the remaining minute and 55 seconds, but Chara’s penalty will bleed into the second period for five seconds.

The first period was much of the same throughout. A back-and-forth period overall just like the start. Philadelphia looked a bit lackadaisical at times. Jeremy Lauzon did not look fazed in his first period as an NHL defenseman in 3:28 of ice time. Anders Bjork really stood out while buzzing around the puck pretty consistently. The shots were 7-7, a deadlock, just like the score.

Score: 0-0

Second Period

Jaroslav Halak made some key saves in the first half of the second frame. They stood out central to the goaltending battle theme of this game.

Danton Heinen put one in the high glass while all alone in front of Brian Elliott – both teams were snakebitten. Heinen made up for it and helped break the ice by feeding Zdeno Chara for a one-timer that beat Brian Elliott exactly seven minutes to go in the period. It was the second goal of the year for Chara, third assist for Heinen.

 

 

 

The good old too many men on the ice sent the Flyers to the penalty kill, with Travis Konecny serving the minor penalty. David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk made them pay for the bench minor. DeBrusk parked himself out front for a quick tip past Elliott to make it 2-0 Bruins. It was the third goal of the year for DeBrusk, assisted by David Krejci (7) and Steven Kampfer (1).

https://twitter.com/mkmolnar/status/1055619549356277761

It took a little while to get on the scoresheet, but the Bruins took control and capitalized on a Philly team that just couldn’t find the back of the net. The shots still remained tied after two, this time with 18 on both sides. Jaroslav Halak left the ice for intermission with an 18-save shutout going.

Score: 2-0 Boston

Third Period

Steven Kampfer was throwing his weight around in the third. First on Corban Knight, the on Scott Laughton. The hit on Laughton drew an angry mob to the scene. Kampfer took Laighton to the ground and landed some jabs. Simmonds and Kampfer were penalized for roughing as a result of the skirmish, with Kampfer getting four minutes. Ryan Donato joined him to serve the penalty.

 

 

The penalties didn’t end as Chara went to the box for a second time, this time for tripping. The Bruins killed off a four second 5-on-3 and then some to finally get back to even strength.

In a game where they struggled to score, Travis Konecny took a tripping penalty with five-and-a-half minutes to go. Just over a minute and 30 seconds into the power play for the Bruins, Jake DeBrusk was called for interference while fighting for territory in front of Brian Elliott. Steven Kampfer and Scott Laughton exchanged words after their encounter earlier in the game, and Andrew MacDonald ended up in the box for slashing Jake DeBrusk in response.

Ryan Donato got jumped for crashing the net and started yet another skirmish in the Philadelphia defensive zone before Oskar Lindblom took an interference penalty in the final two minutes of regulation.

Make it two for Zdeno Chara. What did he do with the empty net opportunity behind the Bruins goal line? He sent it on net, because why not? It worked and marked his third goal of the season. Jaroslav Halak notched the first assist of his Bruins career on the goal. To keep up with a common theme, there was a scuffle at the buzzer.

The final shots were 26-25 in favor of the Flyers, making it a 26-save shutout for Jaroslav Halak. Next up for the Bruins are the Montreal Canadiens at home at 7:00 PM.

Final Score: 3-0 Boston