Postgame 5: Flyers Lose to Bruins, 4-1

In the penultimate game of the 2024 preseason, the Philadelphia Flyers were outplayed by the Boston Bruins in a 4-1 loss at TD Garden on Tuesday evening.

The Flyers dropped to 3-3-0 in the preseason. While the second period was evenly played, the Bruins had stronger opening and final periods.

Justin Brazeau scored from near the crease at 10:00 of the first period as Boston took a 1-0 lead. The assists went to Nikita Zadorov and Trent Frederic.

After being dominated for most of the first period, the Flyers changed up their line combinations in the second period. Philly still got off to another slow start but their play gradually picked up.

At 9:44 of the middle frame, the Flyers drew even on a great play by Matvei Michkov. Skating into the high slot after receiving the puck from Morgan Frost, Michkov shot for a rebound from the high slot. Travis Konecny (1st goal of the preseason) potted the rebound, with the apples going to Michkov (fourth assist and seventh point of the preseason and Frost.

In the third period, a hooking penalty on Jett Luchanko was converted into a go-ahead power play goal by Tyler Johnson at the 7:50 mark. Johnson had an open point blank shot off a feed from Pavel Zacha. The secondary assist went to David Pastrnak.

At 18:45, with the Flyers attacking 6-on-5, Jamie Drysdale coughed the puck up to Pastrnak. Charlie Coyle scored into the empty net. Boston tagged on an additional empty-net goal 20 seconds later by Mark Kastelic.

Samuel Ersson was just a bright spot for Philly, stopping 30 of 32 shots. He kept his team in the game. Brandon Bussi saw just 14 shots, turning aside 13. A late-game save on Sean Couturier off a feed from Anthony Richard preserved what was still a one-goal lead at that point.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Tyson Foerster - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Matvei Michkov
Anthony Richard - Jett Luchanko - Bobby Brink
Elliot Desnoyers - Jacob Gaucher - Garnet Hathaway

Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - Jamie Drysdale
Hunter McDonald - Oliver Bonk

Samuel Ersson
[Cal Petersen]

POSTGAME 5

1) The Flyers yielded five of the game's first six shots on goal through the opening 5:30 of the first period. By the end of the first period, the Flyers were outshot, 17-4, and went nearly 13 minutes without a shot on goal. Ersson almost singlehandedly kept the Flyers in the game.

2) On the Brazeau goal, the goal scorer was left wide open near the net by the Frost line and York-Sanheim defensive pairing. Ersson got a piece of the shot but the puck trickled through and over the goal line.

3) Second period shots were even at 6-6 (23-10 Bruins overall) as the play tightened up as it went along. Thanks mostly to Ersson, the Flyers got the game to the third stanza in "win a period, win the game territory."

4) Garnet Hathaway's signature rambunctious style paid a dividend at 12:14 of the middle frame. Hathaway agitated Charlie McAvoy into taking a cross-checking penalty down in the Boston zone. The Flyers, however, did not do much with the power play and coughed up a 2-on-1 at the end.

5) The Flyers started out slowly in the third period. Finally, a burst of speed by Richard generated Philly's first shot on goal roughly six minutes into the frame. By midway through the period, shots for the game were 31-12 in Boston's favor (7-2 through the first 10 minutes of the final stanza.