By: Max Mainville | Check me out on Twitter @tkdmaxbjj
Two nights removed from their exhilarating three-goal comeback win over the Washington Capitals, the Boston Bruins are back on the ice to continue the road trip against – this time against the Philadelphia Flyers. On Monday, the Bruins found themselves in a 3-0 hole, but thanks to a pair of Pastrnak goals and a Carlo game-winner, they stormed back to win 5-3.
For Philadelphia, they’re coming into Wednesday’s game after winning four consecutive games including back-to-back overtime wins over the New York Islanders. The Flyers have not lost since they lost in two straight games to the Bruins in mid-January.
Pre-Game Notes:
Arena: Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Home: Philadelphia Flyers (7-2-1)
Away: Boston Bruins (6-1-2)
Bruins’ Last Game: 5-3 win vs WSH
Bruins Gameday Lineup:
Anton Blidh makes his season debut for the Bruins tonight as Karson Kuhlman will be taken out of the lineup.
First Period:
The Bruins wasted no time getting started in this one. Twelve seconds off the opening puck drop, David Pastrnak comes down the wing, makes a beautiful between-the-legs deke around a Flyers defenceman before a quick deke to fire an in-tight wrist shot past Carter Hart to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.
Since the opening goal, the Bruins have kept the Flyers on their heels, making solid passes up ice and getting chances from all lines. Philadelphia’s blueline is making poor decisions and are allowing Boston to get in their groove. Both Bergeron and Clifton had solid chances but either missed the cage or were stopped by Hart in goal.
For the remainder of the period, the Bruins seemed to be the better team. Philadelphia’s puck management and forecheck was struggling for a large portion of the frame, but Boston wasn’t able to convert the chances into goals at the other end other than the Pastrnak strike. Flyers got a chance near the end of the period, but Blidh made a great sacrificial block to prevent the chance from being more dangerous.
Shots on Goal: BOS: 8 PHI: 8
Score: 1-0 Bruins – Goals: Pastrnak (3) Assists: McAvoy (8), Bergeron (7)
Second Period:
In the opening minutes, the Flyers get a decent shot from the point that Tuukka Rask finds quite well, but then only seconds later, Nick Ritchie and Craig Smith put heavy pressure on Shayne Gostisbehere on the forecheck who turns it over to Ritchie. Ritchie makes a nice move to the backhand, but hits the post and the puck stays out.
Just past the halfway mark in a game with very few whistles, the Bruins head to the game’s first penalty as Anton Blidh got sent to the sinbin for holding on Jakub Voracek. Sean Kuraly nearly scored a shorthanded goal on the penalty, stealing the puck from a Flyers player in the neutral zone, getting a breakaway bid that was stopped by Hart. Penalty ends, back to 5-on-5.
With just around four minutes to go in the middle regulation period, Charlie McAvoy loses his stick in the defensive zone, causing his teammates to rotate sticks around. While doing so, Kevin Hayes is able to fire a one-timer on goal that Rask gets a piece of, bit not all of it and it beats him – tying the game at one.
Less than two minutes to tick away and Boston gets their first power-play as James van Riemsdyk sits in the box for two minutes. Bruins had a couple shots towards goal, but nothing too extreme. Game heads into second intermission as Boston will start the third with limited time on the man-advantage.
Much better frame for Philadelphia who started to gain traction offensively and looked better defensively as well. Carter Hart is playing great and stopping any chances Boston puts on him. Bruins need to keep playing a hard-nosed style and putting shots on the net.
Shots on Goal: BOS: 21 PHI: 19
Score: 1-1 – Goals: Hayes (6) Assists: Sanheim (3), Myers (2)
Third Period:
Boston’s short power-play goes unsuccessful to start the third period and just over two minutes into the frame, the Flyers get a fortunate bounce off a few sticks to find an open Jakub Voracek who buries it – giving Philly their first lead of the hockey game.
While Sean Kuraly nearly snuck a puck short side past Hart, the Bruins haven’t looked great since the Flyers took the lead. Nolan Patrick beat Krejci and Carlo to get a breakaway chance that Rask saved and minutes later van Riemsdyk gets a partial breakaway off a bad Bruins line change that Rask stops as well. Game remains 2-1.
Nine minutes into the frame, Scott Laughton gets past McAvoy in the neutral zone, exploding to a 2-on-1 against Jakub Zboril. Laughton feeds it across the ice to Joel Farabee who unleashes a rocket top shelf past Tuukka Rask. Three straight goals for Philadelphia gives them a two-goal lead.
With 8:05 remaining on the scoreboard, the Flyers get caught closing their hand on the puck, resulting in a minor penalty. Boston heads to their second power-play, a man-advantage that is even more important than the last one. On the power-play, Pastrnak finds himself open and buries the one-timer for his second of the game, it’s back to a one-goal contest.
Unfortunately, with 5:23 to go, Jeremy Lauzon gets called on a hold behind the play and Boston is forced to go shorthanded at a pivotal time of the game. Bruins do make the successful kill and have just over three-and-a-half minutes left to tie this hockey game.
Another great chance coming up for the Bruins with 2:01 on the clock. Kevin Hayes gets his arm around a Bruin in the sightline of the official and Boston goes to the power-play late, down by one. Philadelphia doing a great job on the line preventing Boston from entering the offensive zone. With little time to go, Bruins just fire shots on net and finally, David Pastrnak gets his stick on the puck, scoring the hat-trick and tying the game with 15 seconds left.
At the very end of the third, Scott Laughton takes a careless interference penalty on Sean Kuraly and while he argues the call, the Flyers will be shorthanded for the first 1:53 of the overtime session.
Shots on Goal: BOS: 33 PHI: 25
Score: 3-3 – Goals: Voracek (3) Assists: Sanheim (4), Patrick (4); Farabee (6) Assists: Laughton (5), van Riemsdyk (9); Pastrnak (4) PPG Assists: Bergeron (8), Ritchie (5); Pastrnak (5) PPG Assists: Marchand (6), Bergeron (9)
Overtime:
Get it done fast. Pastrnak fakes the one-timer on the power-play, turning it into a slap pass for Patrice Bergeron in the slot. Bergeron’s first shot gets stopped by Hart, but the rebound goes in and the Bruins yet again battle back for a remarkable comeback victory – defeating the Flyers 4-3 the final score.
Shots on Goal: BOS: 35 PHI: 25
Final Score: 4-3 Bruins
Max’s Three Stars:
1st Star: BOS F David Pastrnak – 3 Goals, 1 Assist, 7 Shots, 21:31 TOI
2nd Star: BOS F Patrice Bergeron – 1 Goal (GWG), 3 Assists, 19:52 TOI
3rd Star: PHI G Carter Hart – 31 Saves on 35 Shots
Boston now takes the lead in the MassMutual East Division with a 7-1-2 record. Bruins are back at it against Philly on Friday on the road at 7pm EST.
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