Holding a two-point lead in the race for an automatic playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (35-26-9) will host Jim Montgomery's Boston Bruins (41-15-15) in a Saturday matinee. Game time at Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the final game of the season series between the teams, and the second game in Philadelphia. On the afternoon of January 27, the host Flyers fell to the Bruins, 6-2. On March 16 at TD Garden, the Flyers lost a hard-fought 6-5 decision.
The Flyers, 4-4-2 over their last 10 games, have an 18-14-3 home record to date this season. They are coming off a 3-2 overtime road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Bruins, 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, are 18-6-9 on the road to date in 2023-24. Montgomery's club is coming off a 5-2 home loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.
With the Washington Capitals claiming a wild 7-6 (1-0) home win via shootout against Carolina on Friday, the Flyers' lead in the race for third place in the Metro was reduced to two points. The Capitals hold one game in hand. The Flyers and Washington are tied with 27 regulation wins apiece but the Flyers hold a 31-30 lead in the secondary tiebreaking ROW (regulation plus overtime wins) category. The Caps are idle on Saturday before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon.
The Bruins, holding first place in the Atlantic Division, own a three-point lead (97 to 94) over the Florida Panthers. However, the Panthers hold two games in hand and also a large-scale tiebreaker edge (37 to 32) in regulation wins should the two teams be tied in points at the end of the regular season.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday afternoon's game:
1. Empty the Tank
The Flyers are in the midst of an extremely difficult stretch of games. They battled extremely hard for one point on Thursday in Raleigh. During the match, the Flyers rarely deployed their fourth line trio of Noah Cates (10 shifts, 6:58 ice time), Nicolas Deslauriers (five shifts, 3:44 TOI) and Olle Lycksell (nine shifts, 5:55 TOI).
Friday was a much-needed off-day for the Flyers players after returning home from Raleigh in the wee hours. On Sunday evening, the Panthers will pay their lone visit of the season to Wells Fargo Center.
In terms of game management strategy against Boston, the Flyers cannot worry about rolling four lines or conserving energy for Sunday. They need to heavily rely on whichever lines are having a good game, shortening the bench as necessary. Down the stretch, every game is an "empty the tank" scenario.
2. Tippett and Frost Point Streaks
Entering Saturday's game, Flyers winger Owen Tippett is carrying a career-best five-game point streak (three goals, five assists, eight points, plus-seven). Linemate Morgan Frost is also holding a five-game point streak (three goals, four assists, seven points, plus-six), which is tied for his career high.
On Thursday in Raleigh, Frost and Tippett combined for a would-be goal early in the first period. The tally was taken off the board after Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour challenged the play for an offside entry by Travis Konecny. Later in the game, however, Tippett and Frost connected again to set up Konecny on the tying goal that forced overtime.
Both Frost and Tippett stepped up big in a losing cause last Saturday in Boston. So did Joel Farabee (two goals). The Flyers may need a big game again from these players to achieve a home win in the season series finale against the Bruins.
3. Follow the Prototype for a Win
The Flyers performance over the first 40 minutes of last Saturday's game in Boston, their 4-3 home win against Toronto on Tuesday (Philly led 3-0 after two periods) and Thursday's overall play in Raleigh are the prototype for how Philly needs to perform in this game to maximize their chance to win.
Over six of the last nine periods, the Flyers either matched or exceeded the high-caliber opposition they've played. They've been up on their skates. They've sacrificed to block shots. They've generated their own share of transition opportunities. For the most part, especially in the last two games behind Samuel Ersson, the goaltending has not allowed stoppable chances to turn into goals. Philly has also had some puck luck go their way the last few games.
Puck luck is often largely self-made. Go the right spots, play fast, apply pressure on both sides of the puck and the bounces frequently -- not always, of course -- end up breaking your way, too.
4. Flyers Special Teams vs. Bruins Special Teams
In Raleigh, the Flyers' beleaguered power play had good puck movement and pressure, especially during a lengthy 5-on-3. However, they weren't able to score a goal. The closest the Flyers came to a PPG was Scott Laughton hitting the post on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Frost.
The Flyers went into the last game mired in their first penalty killing slump of the entire season. They took a corrective step in the right direction, going 2-for-2 against a Carolina club that entered the night ranked in a tie for third in the NHL for power play efficiency.
Overall this season, the Flyers rank third on the penalty kill at 84.7 percent success and lead the league with 15 shorthanded goals scored. The Flyers power play is last (32nd) in the NHL at 12.7 percent with three shorthanded goals allowed.
The Bruins power play ranks in a tie for eighth at 23.8 percent success with three shorthanded goals allowed. The Boston PK ranks tied for sixth at 82.1 percent. Boston has scored five shorthanded goals.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Boston Bruins
Last Saturday in Beantown, the Flyers accomplished something they've rarely been able to do in recent years. They prevented the deadly David Pastrnak (44 goals, 55 assists, 99 points, 342 shots on net) from scoring a goal. Pastrnak was limited to one assist. Even if Pastrnak can't be shut down in this game, keeping him reasonably contained is one of the Flyers' most important objectives if they are to win.
Another career-long Flyers nemesis, veteran megapest Brad Marchand (27 goals, 35 assists, 62 points), generated two assists against Philly last Saturday. He's still one goal away from his 400th career tally, and the Flyers will need once again to make sure Marchand reaches that milestone against some other opponent.
In last Saturday's game, it was the likes of Charlie Coyle (23g, 31a, 54 points), Jake DeBrusk (four-game point streak, 18 goals and 38 points for the season) and Danton Heinen (three points in his last four games) who ended up doing the scoring damage against the Flyers.
Jeremy Swayman (22-8-8, 2.57 GAA, .917 SV%, three shutouts) started in net against the Flyers last Saturday. Swayman earned the win but did not play particularly well in that game. Swayman took the loss against the Rangers in the Bruins' last game.
Linus Ullmark (19-7-7, 2.64 GAA, .914 SV%, one shutout) is 3-0-1 in his last four starts. Most recently, Ullmark turned aside 29 of 31 shots in a 6-2 home win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Two-stint former Flyer James van Riemsdyk, who was honored at TD Garden last Saturday for recently attaining Silver Stick status (1,000 career NHL games) rmissed a couple days due to illness and was a healthy scratch against Ottawa. JVR, who scored a goal in the first game of the season series with the Flyers, has 38 points this season (11g, 27a) but points have been hard to come by of late.
