The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-1, at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers are 0-4-2 to start the season.
Dan Vladar stopped 27 of 32 shots in a losing cause. Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves on 15 shots.
Pavel Zacha (1st goal of the season) put Boston ahead in the middle stages of the first period. The Flyers were markedly outplayed in the period but went to intermission with a manageable deficit. Matvei Michkov played a strong opening 20 minutes for the Philly side.
The second period was more of the same. Finally, Mason Lohrei (2nd) made it a two-goal lead on an odd-man rush.
Through 40 minutes, the Flyers struggled to generate entries in the offensive zone. Meanwhile, they were unable to get retrievals on chip-ins. Turnovers also remained a problem.
Marat Khusnitdinov (1st) added a third goal for Boston early in the third period.Porter Martone (PPG, 1st) broke the shutout bid minutes later only for Casey Middelstadt (2nd) to restore the three-goal margin. Fraser Minten (1st) scored a five-hole goal for a 5-1 lead.
Neither Travis Konecny nor Cam York were available for this game. Konecny is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while York is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
With the team's assorted injuries, the Flyers dressed Garrett Wilson for the first time this season. Additionally, the club activated Helge Grans from Injured, Non-Roster.
1ST PERIOD
Jamie Drysdale had Philadelphia's first scoring chance of the game. Swayman made the save. At the other end, Pavel Zacha nearly scored on a play created by David Pastrnak.
Nikita Zadorov landed a big hit on Noel Acciari. The big Russian blueliner turned down a responsive challenge from Wilson.
Matvei Michkov created a scoring opportunity for Owen Tippett. Through 8:07, shots were 3-2 in Boston's favor.
Vladar made a fine lateral save on Zadorov as Boston generated a backdoor opportunity on a lost coverage.
The Flyers went to the game's first power play as Zacha went off for tripping David Jiricek at 9:24. Michkov lost the opening faceoff. Connor Clifton fired a routine shorthanded shot into Vladar's chest. After a failed entry, the Flyers switched power play units. The second unit never got set up, either.
Pastrnak had a Grade-A scoring chance. Vladar made the save. But then he allowed a squeaker get past him. The Flyers turned the puck over near their defensive blueline, putting it back into their own zone. Zacha's shot eluded Vladar at 12:21. The puck was actually headed wide but Vladar put it into his own net.
On a rush opportunity, Christian Dvorak fired a shot attempt over the net. Porter Martone created the initial play. Through 13:30, shots on goal were 10-3 Bruins.
Shot attempts were 20-10 Boston. Despite the possession disadvantage, the Flyers got outhit, 11-5. Meanwhile the Flyers were charged with 10 giveaways.
Shots: Flyers 3 - Bruins 12
Faceoffs: Flyers 6 -- Bruins 10
2ND PERIOD
Foerster made a good backchecking play early in the period. The Flyers continued to chase the puck, however, especially against the top Boston line.
The Bruins went to their first power play at 6:55. Acciari went off for a stick holding minor. The Flyers staged a strong kill -- better than most of their 5-on-5 play to that point, in fact.
Vladar stopped another deflected puck, keeping the deficit to one goal. At the other end, Porter Martone took the puck hard to the net: Philly's first legitimate chance of the period.
Through 10:47, shots were 7-2 Boston. Boston continued to move the puck up ice with ease.
Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie narrowly missed connections on a dangerous scoring chance. Boston retained possession again. Vladar misplayed a bouncing puck but escaped without damage.
Jiricek fired a shot on net. Boston had a 4-on-2 rush as the puck rebounded out high. Lohrei had the finish, Peterka and Fraser Minten the assists.
Clifton took a delay of game penalty at 18:55. The Flyers won the faceoff and generated a shot on goal. The penalty evened out on a Foerster high-sticking penalty at 19:12.
Just before the buzzer, Tippett rang a shot off the crossbar.
Shots: Flyers 5 (8 overall) - Bruins 10 (22 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 6 (12 overall) - Bruins 10 (20 overall)
3RD PERIOD
The puck went down low from the perimeter and Khusnutdinov scored after the centering feed in front at 1:55. The assists went to Minten and Will Borgen.
The Flyers went to the power play on a Borgen tripping minor at 6:16. Martone wired a shot over Swayman's glove at 6:30. Jiricek's set up pass for the big shot earned the primary assist. Denver Barkey drew the secondary helper.
