5 THINGS: Flyers @ Bruins

Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (13-15-7) are in Beantown on Thursday evening to take on Bruce Cassidy's Boston Bruins (20-11-5). Game time at TD Garden is 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Boston.
At the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 20, the Flyers skated to a 6-3 victory. Cam Atkinson led the way offensively with two goals. The blueline duo of Ivan Provorov (9 blocks, 22:40 TOI) and Ryan Ellis (assisted a Joel Farabee power play goal in the final 10 seconds of the first period, 21:18 TOI, goal-saving blocked shot) turned in a stellar two-performance.
On Nov. 20 in Philadelphia, the Bruins prevailed by a 5-2 score. The Flyers trailed 1-0 after the first period but it could have been worse after getting outshot by a 21-8 margin. Boston extended the lead early in the second period but the Flyers battled back to tie the score at 2-2 on a pair of goals by Derick Brassard. However, a late-period goal by defenseman Derek Forbort restored a 3-2 lead for the Bruins heading into the third period. Boston then scored again in the opening 90 seconds of the third period to go ahead by two goals again. A mid-third period tally by David Pastrnak sealed the deal.
If the 2021-22 regular season ended today, the Bruins would be the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference. Entering the Flyers-Bruins season series finale, the Flyers find themselves 10 points (nine standings points plus an 18-10 regulation win tiebreaker disadvantage) behind Boston. The Bruins also hold two games in hand.
The Bruins are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and have a 10-6-1 home record this season. The Flyers, who are 7-8-4 on the road this season, are winless in their last five games (0-3-2).
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1) Rest and Replenishment.
The Flyers had six players in COVID protocol (plus three veterans on IR including Sean Couturier and Ellis) when they were blown out by the Penguins last Wednesday. Both the Flyers and Sharks were quite shorthanded personnel-wise on Saturday; a 3-2 overtime loss for Philadelphia.
The NHL postponed Tuesday's scheduled home game against the Eastern Conference leading Carolina Hurricanes. As it turned out, the Flyers would have been even more depleted on the blue line than before had that game been played. Provorov was still in COVID protocol at the time. Travis Sanheim was one day removed from protocol and still trying to regain his game-day conditioning (although he would have played). Justin Braun was placed in protocol on Monday. Rasmus Ristolainen also subsequently entered protocol.
The good news: For the game in Boston, Flyers will be getting back most of the players who were absent due to COVID protocol. Team captain Claude Giroux practiced each of the last two days. Provorov and Travis Konecny exited protocol on Wednesday, and practiced. So did Braun, who did not end up missing any games. Sanheim has had three days of practice.
The bad news: Ristolainen remains in protocol. Couturier (upper body) remains week-to-week on injured reserve. Patrick Brown (sprained MCL suffered in the San Jose game) will be out four weeks. Ellis (lower-body) and Nate Thompson (shoulder surgery) are out indefinitely. Brassard (hip) remains day-to-day.
2) Line Play
After being the 13th forward at Tuesday's practice, mixing and matching into some reps, Morgan Frost practiced on Thursday as the fourth-line center and on the secondary power play unit. Cam York remains in the lineup on defense. Sanheim will move from left defense to the right side in order to be paired with Provorov.
Carter Hart is slated to get the start after Martin Jones started the two previous games against Boston this season.
The Flyers projected lineup is as follows:
86 Joel Farabee - 28 Claude Giroux - 89 Cam Atkinson
25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
59 Jackson Cates - 21 Scott Laughton - 23 Oskar Lindblom
71 Max Willman - 48 Morgan Frost - 17 Zack MacEwen
6 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
45 Cam York - 61 Justin Braun
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler
79 Carter Hart
[35 Martin Jones]
3) Inside the Numbers
Saturday's game was scoreless until the third period. The Flyers then took a 2-0 lead on two goals by James van Riemsdyk only to see the Sharks come back to win the game in overtime on a natural hat trick by Tomas Hertl. The Flyers salvaged one point after three straight regulation losses.
The overtime loss against the Sharks was not the typical ebb-and-flow of an NHL game but it feed into both the Flyers statistical problems with a negative puck possession, shot on goal and scoring chance disparity.

On the flip side, it also continued the team's pattern of coming away with one or two points from games where they score first. It's when trailing first that the Flyers have rarely come away with anything.
When scoring first: 11-2-5
When trailing first: 2-13-2
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Boston Bruins
The Bruins are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. On Wednesday at TD Garden, the Bruins dispatched their traditional arch-rival Montreal Canadiens by a 5-1 score. Brad Marchand recorded a hat trick. Curtis Lazar recorded the first two-goal game of his Bruins' career. Wednesday's game opened a season-longest seven-game homestand for the Bruins.
The Bruins have welcomed longtime goaltending stalwart Tuukka Rask back into the fold. Now healthy and signed to a contract, Rask is primed to play for the first time this season.
5. Players to Watch; Konecny and Marchand
If there's any silver lining to Konecny's COVID protocol-related absence for two games, it's the potential chance to "hit the reset button" and come back raring to go. He's gone goalless in his last 18 games with one tally in his last 24 games. However, Konecny did collect four assists in his last five games before exiting the lineup due to a positive COVID test.
All three members of the "Perfection line" -- Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Pastrnak -- have enjoyed considerable career success against the Flyers. Marchand, coming off a hat trick last game, has also struck for several shorthanded goals. The Flyers have struggled this season in yielding shorthanded counterattacks and SHGs.