Postgame 5: Flyers Show Fight, Lose 6-5 in Boston

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins, 6-5, at TD Garden on Saturday evening. The Flyers were unable to build on or protect a pair of one goal leads but were in decent shape entering the third period with the score tied. 

An early third period blitz by Boston turned a tied game into a 5-2 Boston lead in just 4:04. The Flyers then pushed back to 5-4, fell behind 6-4, and then got back to within 6-5 before running out of time.

The Flyers played a strong overall first period. Boston was held without a shot on goal for more than half the period, despite a few close calls. The Flyers blocked six shots (three by Cam York). Up-ice the Flyers had several high-end chances of their own.

A 2-on-1 counterattack for the Flyers produced a 1-0 lead at 4:18 of the first period. After a lead pass from Egor Zamula, Garnet Hathaway gained the offensive zone and made a no-look pass across to Ryan Poehling (9th goal of the season). From the right circle, Poehling one-timed a shot into the net.

The first Boston goal was a turnaround from Philly's goal. This time, a Flyers scoring chance at one end led to a Boston counterattack the other way. Jake DeBrusk passed to Morgan Geekie (16th) in the right circle. Geekie wound up and slapped a shot high into the top far side corner of the net. The assists went to DeBrusk and Parker Wotherspoon.

Boston got off to a quick start in the second period and had the better of the play overall. However, the Flyers had some pushback, too. The Flyers briefly restored a one-goal lead at the expiration of a power play before Boston scored on the man advantage for a 2-2 tie.

A few moments after 5-on-5 play resumed as the final tick went off a Flyers' power play, Cam York wristed a center point shot with a two-layered screen (Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee) in front of the net. Farabee deflected the puck home (PPG, 20th) for a 2-1 lead at 12:01. The assists went to York and Owen Tippett.

On Boston's first power play of the game, the Flyers had a breakdown. Pavel Zacha won a faceoff against Scott Laughton. The Bruins had two men open near the net. After a pass from Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle (PPG, 22nd) had a slam dunk. The assists went to Marchand and Coyle at 15:22 of the middle stanza.

With the teams playing at 4-on-4, the Bruins took a 3-2 lead at 1:08 of the third period. Charlie Coyle scored high to the short side for his second goal of the game (23rd of the season).

Boston made it 4-2 at 3:45 as the Flyers had some coverage confusion. Philly got caught puck watching as John Beecher got wide open near the net. He followed up his own rebound (6th goal of the season) to extend the lead. The assists went to Andrew Peeke and Jesper Boqvist.

The onslaught continued with the Flyers hemmed in their own end. Jake DeBrusk dangled his way to the net, getting Felix Sandström to commit and tucking the puck inside the post (17th goal of the season) at 4:04.  The assists went to Brad Marchand and Hampus Lindholm.

Nicolas Deslauriers (1st goal of the season) had a wide-open tap-in near the right post at 14:12 off a pass from Couturier. The Flyers captain won a battle behind the net to create the opportunity that narrowed the gap to 5-3.

A gorgeous goal by Frost (11th of the season) brought the Flyers back within 5-4 at 15:14 of the third period. After a slick entry by Frost, Tippett made a nice feed back to the center. Frost then scored a between-the-legs goal upstairs from the low slot. Tippett and York got the assists.

Heavy pressure by the Flyers did not produce a tying goal, and Danton Heinen (13th goal of the season) scored a bar-down goal to the far side from 25 feet for a 6-4 edge at 17:01. The lone assist went to Trent Frederic.

The Flyers didn't go down without a fight. At 17:56, Farabee backed up a wraparound (second goal of the game, 21st of the season) to cut the deficit to 6-5. Tippett picked up his third assist of the game. Travis Konecny got the secondary assist.

The Flyers' late desperation push fell short. They'd simply made one mistake too many and dug the hole a little too deep.

Felix Sandström played gamely and had some breakdowns in front of him. He finished with 23 saves on 29 shots. Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 of 29 shots to earn the win.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Bruins were 1-for-2.

Cam Atkinson and Deslauriers re-entered the Flyers' lineup. Bobby Brink and Denis Gurianov exited. Prior to the game, the Bruins honored longtime Flyers player James van Riemsdyk for recently achieving Silver Stick (1,000 career games) status in his NHL career.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier- 11 Travis Konecny

27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 71 Tyson Foerster
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
18 Marc Staal - 23 Ronnie Attard
5 Egor Zamula- 77 Erik Johnson

32 Felix Sandström
[33 Samuel Ersson]

TURNING POINT

The 4-on-4 that started the third period -- with key defenseman Cam York in the box for the Flyers -- could hardly have gone worse. The Flyers lost their attention to detail, even after 5-on-5 play resumed, and a tied game turned into a cavernous deficit.

Philly showed a lot of moxie in eventually scoring three goals of their own in the final stanza. Unfortunately, they allowed four.

POSTGAME 5

1) Erik Johnson broke up a potential 2-on-1 rush on the game's second shift. Pastrnak missed an open shot from the slot before Poehling scored on a counterattack the other way at 4:18. The Flyers had the game's first four shots on goal through the game's first TV timeout at 6:26.

Through 11 minutes, shots were 5-0. York made a good breakout pass under pressure on the next shift. Sandström slid across laterally to make an excellent stop on John Beecher at 12:26 for his first save of the game. On the next shift, the Flyers' netminder made a routine save on an unscreened Hampus Lindholm point shot. Sandström made another solid save, this time on Pastrnak deep over the middle two shifts after that.

Frost made a good defensive play deep in the defensive zone to take the puck away from Pastrnak. At 15:45. Konecny was unable to finish a one-on-one-chance or a rebound chance against Swayman, The Bruins went the other way as Geekie scored at 15:51.

At 17:55, Laughton made a good play in the neutral zone and was tripped by Brandon Carlo as he neared the bottom of the right circle. The Flyers top unit applied heavy pressure with good puck movement -- Frost hit the post from the right circle as he used a defender as a screen, After the penalty expired, right before the buzzer, Atkinson had a chance at the doorstep.

2) First period shots on goal were 8-5 Flyers. Shot attempts were 19-12 Flyers. Scoring chances were 12-7 Flyers. High-danger scoring chances were 4.2 Flyers. Faceoffs were 7-6 Boston.

3) Sandström stopped Matt Grzelczyk from the left circle off a Boston counterttack with Marc Staal caught up ice. DeBrusk had a bang-bang scoring chance off the next faceoff as Zamula misread the play. Boston had the period's first five shots on goal.

At 4:30, Sandström stopped a re-direct by a wide open Geekie. A routine shot by Frost from distance marked Philly's first shot on net. Marchand had an open look at his potential 400th career NHL goal but hit the crossbar. On the next shift, Tippett had a look from near the hash marks after Frost found a passing lane. The shot produced a rebound but the Flyers were unable to get to it.

Konecny took a check to the head from Charlie McAvoy at 9:58 as he skated into the corner on a forecheck. Sanheim and Charlie Coyle received offsetting roughing minors in the aftermath. Marchand had a shorthanded breakaway. Farabee scored at 12:01 just after the power play expired.

Two shifts after the Farabee goal, Sandström stopped DeBrusk from close range. Boston went to their first power play of the game at 14:44 on an offensive zone hooking penalty on Foerster With 1:23 left on the penalty, Coyle scored to tie the game at 2-2.

4) Second period shots on goal were 15-10 Bruins (20-18 Bruins overall). Shot attempts were 24-19 Bruins (38-36 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 12-7 Bruins (19-18 Bruins overall). High-danger scoring chances were 7-1 Bruins (9-7 overall). Faceoffs were 10-9 Flyers (tied at 16-16 overall).

5) The third period started with two minutes of 4-on-4 play. The Flyers spent the first two shifts of the third period in the defensive zone, ending in Coyle's go-ahead goal at 1:08. Beecher scored at 3:45 and then DeBrusk tallied at 4:04. Now trailing by three goals, the Flyers called a timeout.

Danton Heinen was penalized for playing with a broken stick at 4:29. The first power play unit spent the entire power play in the attack zone but they were unable to score.

Boston went to their second power play at 10:53. Foerster returned to the box for a neutral zone tripping penalty drawn by Marchand. Sandström made excellent saves on Geekie and Lindholm to keep the deficit at 5-2.

Couturier's work behind the net created Deslauriers' goal at 14:12. Frost brought the Flyers back within a goal at 15:14.

Heinen's goal at 17:01 could have been a backbreaker. With Sandström pulled. Farabee's goal on a wraparound bank shot at 17:56 set up a wild finish. Sandström was pulled again. The Flyers couldn't tally again to force overtime.

Third period shots on goal were 11-9 Flyers (tied at 29-29 overall). Shot attempts were 22-21 Bruins (59-58 Boston overall). Scoring chances were 10-10 (30-28 Bruins overall). High-danger scoring chances were 7-5 Bruins (15-9 Boston overall). Faceoffs were 11-11 (27-27 overall).