Bruins Beat Flyers 5-1 In Preseason Matchup

BOSTON –– Fueled by two goals from Mikey Eyssimont, special teams and some snappy production from newer faces, the Boston Bruins routed the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Eyssimont opened scoring for the B’s at 13:31 of the first period. Tanner Jeannot collected the puck from behind the net and chipped it up to the point where Frederic Brunet launched it on net. Eyssimont, who skated on the third line with Jeannot and Dans Locmelis, was parked in front for the tip-in tally to make it 1-0.

“He’s been good. He’s been very focused throughout camp, every day,” head coach Marco Sturm said of Eyssimont. “Plays with pace, plays with grit. He’s been really good. This kid has been around in the league for a little bit, too, now. I think he realizes now he also needs to step up his game because he wants to make the team. And that’s good. He’s going to make it hard on me – and that’s exactly what we want. We wanted to have good competition here in training camp, and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now.”

The Flyers found the 1-1 equalizer ahead of the second period with a goal from Jacob Gaucher at 18:06. Morgan Geekie, though, regained the Bruins’ advantage in the third while on the power play. Hampus Lindholm got the puck over to David Pastrnak at the top of the left circle, where he ripped one that Geekie tipped in for the 2-1 scoreline at 5:19.

Geekie and his fellow veterans used Tuesday’s matchup to get their legs back ahead of the Bruins' season opener in one week.

​“I think pressure – you kind of put it on yourself. You want to perform, obviously, regardless of what’s at stake, but you kind of get your feels and figure out where you’re going to be on the ice. It’s a lot different than summer hockey; taking two-minute shifts,” Geekie said. “Guys are fighting for jobs. It’s good to see everyone come to play, and a lot of guys stepped up tonight. It’s fun to see guys be a part of it and just continue to grow.”

Brunet picked up his second assist of the night when Brian Halonen extended the Bruins’ lead to 3-1 at 7:43. Brunet was the only Bruin to play in both Sunday and Tuesday’s exhibition games. Against the Flyers, Brunet was on the third pair with Max Guenette and finished the night with two points, one shot and one block through 16:18 of ice time.

“He had another good night. He’s been rock solid. There are still little details in his game we have to clean up, but overall, having his first few games here this year under his belt, I think he looks very comfortable,” Sturm said. “That’s a good thing. Keep working with him. He’s a good kid – wants to learn. And for sure, he’s going to get better and better.”

Elias Lindholm’s snapshot from the slot, dished to him by Nikita Zadorov, made it 4-1 at 14:49. Eyssimont brought the contest to its final 5-1 standing when Locmelis slipped it over to his linemate for the one-timer at 18:47.

JJ Peterka also made his Bruins debut on the second line with Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt for the first two periods. The 24-year-old forward then skated with Lindholm and Pastrnak in the third. Peterka – who was acquired from the Utah Mammoth in June – quickly fit in with his speed and vision on the wing.

“It was a lot of fun. I think you could feel the energy came up on our line. We had a lot of good looks,” Pastrnak said of Peterka. “It was just one period, but he seems like a very smart player with good skating, great on the forecheck.”​

Peterka felt the same.

“It was awesome. I think we tried to find each other a lot out there. Obviously, when you play with a player that highly skilled, super fun. Just try to get open. I think that was good as well,” he said. “Overall, super fun, good atmosphere and obviously a good win.”

Boston and Philadelphia will meet again on Thursday, this time at Xfinity Mobile Arena, for another 7 p.m. puck drop.