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Photo Courtesy Of NBC Sports Boston

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Home: Philadelphia Flyers (41-20-7)

Away: Boston Bruins (43-14-12)

Philadelphia’s Lineup

Forwards

Giroux-Couturier-Voracek

Farabee-Hayes-Konecny

Laughton-Grant-Pitlick

Raffl-Thompson-Aube-Kubel

Defense

Provorov-Niskanen

Sanheim-Hagg

Gostisbehere-Braun

Goalies

Hart

Elliott

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak

Ritchie-Krejci-Kase

Kuraly-Coyle-DeBrusk

Nordstrom-Lindholm-Wagner

Defense

Chara-McAvoy

Grzelcyk-Lauzon

Moore-Clifton

Goalies

Rask

Halak

First Period

Neither team had much going offensively in the opening moments as few shots were put on goal on either side. The Bruins started to maintain an attacking zone rhythm toward the midway point of the period but the Flyers did as well as they drew a penalty with 13:40 left. The B’s killed off the man advantage thanks to a couple of monster saves by Tuukka Rask including a phenomenal stop on Travis Konecny. Rask continued to have a strong period as they got a number of quality chances after the power play. The Bruins continued to have trouble getting possession of the puck past the midway point of the period as the Flyers started to take control of the game.

Late in the period Boston went to the penalty kill yet again as Brad Marchand was called for holding in the neutral zone. Philadelphia didn’t manage much on the power play except for a couple shots that Rask stopped rather easily and the game remained scoreless going into the final moments of the period. The Bruins picked up a final minute power play as Ivan Provorov was called for a high stick.

Score: Tied 0-0

Second Period

The Bruins began the period on the power play that was picked up at the end of the first. The Flyers killed off the penalty and even got a number of shorthanded opportunities on Rask. Bruce Cassidy seemed to shuffle the forward lines in the middle period to try to ignite some offense to get the B’s going. The Bruins started to find an offensive rhythm at the midway point of the period as they looked to be the more energetic team. Rask continued to be busy as the Flyers threw shots on goal from nearly every angle.

The Bruins continued to have trouble maintaining much of an offensive rhythm and as a result lagged behind Philadelphia in shots on goal. The Flyers picked up their third power play of the night as Marchand went to the box again with under six minutes left in the period. Boston killed off the penalty once again as Rask stood tall which to that point was becoming the story of the game. The B’s responded as they drew a penalty on Justin Braun immediately after, giving them an opportunity to take the lead. Matt Grzelcyk finally opened the scoring with a bomb from the point as the B’s took the late period lead.

Score: 1-0 Bruins

Third Period

The B’s opened the period with some great energy as they looked to extend the lead in the early moments of the third. The Flyers continued to get shots on goal but Rask continued to come up big. The B’s looked like the aggressor in the final period as they pushed hard for another goal to take control of the game. The tempo of the game started to pick up past the midway point of the period as both teams started to get a bit desperate. Both teams traded chances down the stretch, going end to end a couple times but the score remained the same thanks to stellar goaltending. Patrice Bergeron doubled the Boston lead with a long wrist shot past Carter Hart with over five minutes to go.

Immediately following the goal, Scott Laughton was called for a high stick which resulted in a Bruins power play, giving them a chance to essentially put the game on ice. The Flyers killed it off despite some great puck movement by Boston and still had a chance to get back in the game. Philadelphia pulled Hart with about 2:30 to play as they looked for a couple of quick goals.

Final Score: 2-0 Bruins

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Rask

Second Star: Grzelcyk

Third Star: Bergeron

Check out the new Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast episode 169 that we recorded below! You can find our show on many worldwide platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.

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