Postgame 5: Point Taken, Point Missed

In the first installment of a four-game road trip and the first game of a back-to-back at TD Garden, the Philadelphia Flyers fell via shootout to the Boston Bruins, 5-4, on Thursday night.

The Flyers were unable to protect leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the third period and then salvaged a point by re-tying the score. Philly had the better of overtime but could not win the game. The Bruins then prevailed in a shootout.
The Bruins controlled much of the scoreless first period and early portion of the second before the Flyers came on. Goals by Claude Giroux (1st, PPG) and James van Riemsdyk (2nd) gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead after the second period.
In a sloppy, wild third period, Bruins scored four times and the Flyers scored twice to take the game to overtime: Jack Studnicka (1st), Charlie Coyle (1st), Brandon Carlo (1st) for Boston and Travis Konecny (1st) and JVR again (power play, 2nd of the game and 3rd of the season) for the Flyers.
Philadelphia dominated the overtime, and it took five saves by Tuukka Rask to get the game to the shootout. In the skills competition, Jake DeBrusk in the top of the third round was the only player to score for either team.
Carter Hart carried a shut out for two periods before the Bruins' four-goal blitz. He finished with 39 saves on 43 shots in regulation. After not seeing a shot in OT, he stopped 2 of 3 in the shootout. Rask stopped 22 of 26 over the first 65 minutes and then all three he saw in the shootout.
TURNING POINT
Puck management problems, inability to win faceoffs, ill-timed penalties and a costly icing set the wheels in motion for a crazy third period that saw Boston fire 22 shots on Hart to 10 on Rask. The game-tying power play goal by JVR that forced OT was similar in some ways to his first goal. Rask made a 10-bell save on Voracek in overtime. There were also prime chances for Kevin Hays and Scott Laughton.
MELTZER'S TAKE
`1) Rock solid goaltending by Hart in the first period -- including a very tough stop on a power play redirect by Patrice Bergeron and a denial of Brandon Carlo through a heavy screen -- enabled the Flyers to get the game to the first intermission scoreless. At the offensive end, the Flyers had some early possession but settled for too many low percentage plays and struggled to get pucks and traffic to the net unlike Boston. Philly got through two PKs and struggled on their only power play.
2) First period shots were 14-3 in Boston's favor (attempts 23-10 Bruins). In terms of shot quality, the Flyers failed to generate a single high-danger scoring chance and just three "moderate" grade ones. The Bruins, on the other hand, had a half dozen bonafide scoring chances.
3) The Bruins continued to dictate the play for the first 4:45 of the second period. Hart continued to hold the fort. Finally, on the Flyers' second power play of the game, they broke through. First, Jakub Voracek hit the crossbar. Then, after a feed from Ivan Provorov, Giroux scored from his favorite spot in the left circle; a snipe under the bar with Travis Konecny in front at 6:17. This was the first opposing PPG the Bruins have allowed this young season. Philly quickly went back on the power play but the Bruins shut that one down.

4) Over the latter half of the period, the Flyers asserted themselves. The best Boston opportunity was a point-blank chance for David Krejci from the slot. Hart made the save cleanly. At 17:31, moments after the expiration of the Flyers; fourth power play, Voracek finessed a pass to van Riemsdyk and JVR finished it off in front. Hayes, who started the passing sequence, earned the other assist. Second period shots were 8-4 in the Flyers' favor and the Flyers had an all-situation team 58.6 percent Corsi. Also of note: Flyers defenseman Mark Friedman took a face-first fall to the ice after jostling for position with Brad Marchand. Bleeding heavily, he left the game.

5) It didn't take Boston long to erase the Flyers' lead in the third period. The Bruins racked up seven of the first eight shots and scored twice. At the 57-second mark, after Hart made an initial save, Studnicka stayed with it and scored from the crease for his first NHL goal. At 2:06, after the Flyers got hemmed in and turned a puck over, Coyle scored on a turnaround shot that got through Hart's pads.
The Flyers regained their equilibrium and then the teams began to trade off scoring chances. At 7:13, the Flyers got a friendly bounce off the skate of Sanheim as Voracek (700th NHL point) put the puck at the net from high in the zone. Nolan Patrick got the secondary assist. Unfortunately, a Scott Laughton cross-checking penalty proved costly as Ritchie got just enough of a shot near the right post to get it over Hart's glove and the net to re-tie the game at 13:22. Carlo scored through traffic to give Boston their first and only lead at 15:18. The Flyers then took advantage of a needless cross-checking penalty on Kuraly as Voracek set up JVR on the doorstep and the veteran put it home at 16;28.