Flyers hold off Bruins to end their point streak at 8

PHILADELPHIA -- Dan Vladar made 26 saves, and the Philadelphia Flyers ended the Boston Bruins' eight-game point streak with a 3-1 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (27-21-11), which has won consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 3-6. Sean Couturier also scored, and Christian Dvorak had two assists for the Flyers, who defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on the road Thursday.

"We were better tonight," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. "We adjusted a few things (defensively). ... I felt over the (Olympic) break we had to change, and I saw some of those changes tonight. A little bit in the Ranger game. We're not perfect yet, but there's some certain things we're going to tweak a little bit for this team. And I thought they did a better job."

Charlie McAvoy scored for Boston (33-21-5), which had been 5-0-3 in its previous eight. Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves in his first game since helping the United States win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

"[Vladar] played really good, he kind of made those saves he needed to," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. "We just didn't do enough of a good job being around him or being front of him."

Sixteen of Vladar's saves came in the second period, including seven during two Bruins power plays. Two of his biggest stops came against Boston forward Morgan Geekie. With 15:00 left in the period, he got his right pad on a Geekie shot from the slot. Then, during a Boston man-advantage with 4:17 remaining, he snapped his pads closed to stop Geekie on a rebound from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

He also stopped Sean Kuraly on a breakaway with 5:43 left in the period.

"You guys saw the saves that he made throughout that game," Drysdale said. "The shots were pretty low in the first two periods, but I think pretty much every one of their shots was a grade A. He's been kicking great, and a big reason why we came up with one today."

Vladar received an ovation from the fans behind him during the second but said he didn't think he was any more locked in than in any other game.

"We are a confident group," he said. "We knew we have it in us. We had it at the beginning of year, and it kind of slipped away. But we’ve just got to [get] back the swagger because we have it here."

Boston appeared to score the first goal of the game 1:05 into the third period on Hampus Lindholm's shot from the right point, but referees immediately waived the goal off for goaltender interference.

Konecny then gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 3:41. Dvorak dumped the puck in from the left boards and it took an awkward bounce into the middle of the ice. Swayman reached out to redirect the puck, but Dvorak got to it first and backhanded it into the crease, where Konecny tapped it in.

Drysdale pushed the lead to 2-0 by scoring from the left hash marks at 11:55. It was the defenseman's third goal in five games.

"I think the Rangers game, he had three chances in the high slot," Tocchet said. "He's finding those spots. I know he's working on his shot. This summer is a big summer for him. I remember coaching Quinn Hughes (with the Vancouver Canucks). He increased his shot 12 mph, which is amazing. I think 'Drysie' can get that shot a little bit harder, which he's been working on. Swayman was good tonight too and to beat him was a good shot."

McAvoy cut it to 2-1 at 13:03, scoring from in close by redirecting Lindholm's pass from the point. The goal gave McAvoy 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) during a nine-game point streak, his longest in the NHL.

Couturier made it 3-1 with an empty-net goal at 19:07. It was his first goal in 32 games.

"I'll take them any way I can," he said. "It feels good. But most importantly, it's the win. The wins are more important right now, and that's all my focus. Even on that goal, I was still looking to give it to [Owen Tippett] if the guy steps up on me. All that matters is the team success, and not too worried about scoring goals. Obviously I want to help out in that facet, but the wins are more important right now."

NOTES: Vladar, who signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract ($3.35 million average annual value) with the Flyers on July 1, got his 18th win, the most by a goalie in his first season with Philadelphia since Brian Elliott won 23 games in 2017-18. ... The Flyers went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and are 15-for-15 in their past eight games. ... McAvoy joined Ray Bourque as the only Bruins defensemen to have a point streak of at least nine games in the past 40 years. ... Boston has lost five straight (0-2-3) on the road. ... Geekie had a nine-game point streak end.