By: Ryan Bosworth | @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins played in their final home game ahead of the Olympic break tonight, as they hosted the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
Boston was six points ahead of the playoff cut line heading into tonight, as they sat in the second wild card spot and tied for third in the Atlantic Division, with 65 points, with Buffalo and Montreal. All three teams played tonight, and all three teams went home with two points.
With a record of 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, they’ve started building themselves a cushion in points percentage, which was .602 ahead of tonight’s game. Philadelphia wasn’t far back, as they sat eight points behind Boston with a points percentage of .548.
Tonight’s tilt featured some shifts within the lineup, as forward Matthew Poitras made his 2025-26 National Hockey League debut, starting the game on the Bruins’ third line, centering Mikey Eyssimont and Marat Khusnutdinov.
Elias Lindholm, who was sidelined in the Bruins’ last game against Nashville, is out indefinitely, and Pavel Zacha slotted into Lindholm’s spot, centering Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak. Fraser Minten was bumped up to the second-line center, playing in between Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson.
First Period
The Bruins came out hot in the first. They controlled much of the play and were able to notch two goals. The Flyers cut the lead in half, but not for long, as head coach Marco Sturm would challenge the play for goaltender interference, and they’d win it, remaining up 2-0. It was pretty blatant goaltender interference, and Jeremy Swayman knew it.
The Bruins’ first goal of the period came from the new-look second line, which featured Fraser Minten slotted between Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson. Viktor Arvidsson opened the scoring, potting one after some nice tic-tac-toe passing from him and his linemates.
Just 41 seconds later, the Bruins cashed in again, this time thanks to Pavel Zacha. David Pastrnak fed a pass through some traffic to Zacha, who was moving down in the slot, and he was able to sneak it past Sam Ersson. With Zacha’s goal, both Geekie and Pastrnak were able to extend their point streaks.
Second Period
The Bruins really started packing it on in the second frame. Scoring three goals, they’d conclude the first 40 minutes leading 5-2. Goals from Minten, Mittelstadt, and Tanner Jeannot widened the margin between the Bruins and Flyers.
The first goal, which came at 2:27 of the period, came from Fraser Minten, who notched his 14th goal of the season, putting him on pace for a total of 20 through 82 games. He contributed on the Bruins’ opening goal, so this is his second point of the evening, and 28th point of the season. Another five-hole goal for the Bruins.
The Flyers responded quickly, with Travis Konecny scoring from Christian Dvorak. The Bruins wouldn’t respond until 16:12 of the second period, where Casey Mittelstadt would score from Andrew Peeke and Fraser Minten. The new second line, featuring Minten down the middle, was very impressive tonight. Combining for a total of seven points between the three players, and three goals.
The Bruins wouldn’t wait long to add another, as Tanner Jeannot scored at 18:40 of the second period, tipping in a shot from Andrew Peeke on the point. With the assist on the goal, Andrew Peeke now has himself a multi-point night, registering his sixth and seventh assist. The Flyers were able to grab one more before the period closed, cutting the Bruins’ 5-1 lead to 5-2 at 19:05 of the period.
Third Period
Opening the third, and final, frame with a 5-2 lead, Boston continued controlling play. They allowed the Flyers to gain a little momentum, but it didn’t amount to much, as each team would only score one goal in the final frame, leading to a final score of 6-3. Boston would score first in the period, as Marat Khusnutdinov tallied his 12th goal of the season on the Flyers’ empty net. Charlie McAvoy assisted, which registered his 32nd assist on the season.
Flyers forward Matvei Michkov would be the final player to score in the game, putting one past Swayman at 18:19 of the game. It wouldn’t be enough for Philadelphia to do anything, as the Bruins were able to shut the door. In their final home game ahead of the Olympic break, Boston tops Philadelphia 6-3, improving to 32-20-3 on the season.
There was a lot of good that came from this game. Fraser Minten continues to prove he’s a legit NHLer, Matt Poitras made the most of his first call-up and game of the NHL season, both Geekie and Pastrnak extended their point streaks, and Jeremy Swayman shut the door, stopping 33 of 36 shots on goal.
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