Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-9) are in Beantown on Thursday to take on Marco Sturm's Boston Bruins (31-20-3). This is the first of three games this season between the longtime rivals.
Game time at TD Garden is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP+.
Thursday's game is the second half of a back-to-back set for the Flyers and the middle match of a three-in-four gauntlet. On Wednesday in Columbus, the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets scored two late goals -- five-on-five and empty net -- to defeat the Flyers by a 5-3 score.
The Bruins have bounced back emphatically from a six-game winless skid. Since that time, Boston is 11-2-1 over its last 14 matches including an 8-1-1 mark in the last 10 games. On Tuesday, the Bruins captured a 3-2 overtime home win against the Nashville Predators.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Boston on Thursday.
1. Between the pipes
Dan Vladar deserved a better fate in Wednesday's game in Columbus. Returning from a two-week injury absence, the Czech Olympian made 26 saves including a couple of 10-bell steps where he had to stretch out laterally to rob shooters of what initially looked like sure goals. It would be hard to fault Vladar for any of the four goals that past him due to breakdowns or heavy screens in front of him.
With Vladar just back from injury and given today's common practice of splitting the work when there are games on consecutive nights, look for Samuel Ersson (8-9-5, 3.39 GAA, .860 SV%) to start in Boston. Before Vladar's return, Ersson started each of the previous four games and made appearances in each of the previous eight games.
Jeremy Swayman (21-12-2, 2.86 GAA, .903 SV%) gets the bulk of the work in net for the Bruins, including Tuesday's victory over Nashville. He's backed up by Jonas Korpisalo (10-8-1, 3.12 GAA, .895 SV%).
2. Puck management and defensive coverages
During their 2-0-1 western road trip, the Flyers seemed to clean up many of the issues that plagued them during their six-game winless skid (0-5-1). Unfortunately, since stunning the league-leading Colorado Avalanche in Denver, the problems returned in losses to the Islanders and Blue Jackets: turnovers, failed clearing opportunities, problems generating consistent entries, and defensive coverage lapses leading to back-door goals.
The Bruins have feasted lately off opposing turnovers and poorly executed small details that compound into glaring miscues. The Flyers need to essentially do in Boston what they did in the first and third periods of the Colorado game: receive strong goaltending, battle through adversity and strike opportunistically to play from ahead.
3. Konecny status
Travis Konecny (20g, 28a, 48 points) racked up a hat trick in a losing cause on Wednesday in Columbus. Last week, he scored two breakaway goals in the Flyers' 2-1 win in Vegas. In the process, he has overtaken Trevor Zegras (19g, 27a, 46 points) for the Flyers' team scoring lead. Zegras had led the way offensively for most of the season before that.
In Wednesday's game, Konecny painfully blocked a shot off his foot late in the second period. He hobbled to the locker room as the period ended. Nevertheless, he returned for the third period to score twice and temporarily tie the game. Afterwards, Tocchet said that it's not a certainty Konecny will be able to play in Boston. However, the defending Bobby Clarke Trophy winner will suit up if he possibly can. The Flyers will not hold a morning skate on Thursday.
Apart from Konecny, Owen Tippett has played very well overall in recent weeks. To varying degrees, rookie Denver Barkey, Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink have stepped up at times in recent games. The bottom line, however, is the Flyers can't just have a few players going or segments of strong team play. To revive their playoff hopes for the stretch drive after the Olympics, the team needs all hands on deck.
4. Contain Pastrnak
Bruins sniper David Pastrnak remains one of the most explosive scorers in the NHL. He's been on a tear of late with 10 points (2g, 8a) in his last five games and 69 points (22g, 47a) for the season on the whole. Over the course of his career, Pastrnak has taken particular delight in punishing the Flyers (26 goals and 45 points in 34 games). He's scored more times against Philly than any other NHL opponent.
Meanwhile, Morgan Geekie has already hit the 30-goal mark for the Bruins this season. Boston has seven players with 25 or more points this season. Despite missing 11 games this season, Charlie McAvoy paces the Boston defense corps offensively with 35 points in 42 games.
