POSTGAME 5: Opportunistic Flyers Double up B's

In the third game of a four-game homestand, the Flyers doubled up the Boston Bruins, 6-3, at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday evening. The Flyers led by scores of 1-0 and 3-1 before pulling ahead again for good in a strong third period.

Philadelphia also received strong goaltending when they needed it. That, along with opportunistic offense and staying out of the penalty box, were key to the win.
Cam Atkinson (2nd goal of the season) and Joel Farabee (power play, 3rd) sandwiched first period goals around a Karson Kuhlman tally (1st) to send the Flyers to intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Scott Laughton (1st) and Taylor Hall (1st) traded off second period goals before Brad Marchand (3rd) tied the game at 3-3 in the final minute of the stanza.
Atkinson (2nd of the game, 3rd of the season) scored off a Farabee transition feed to restore a Flyers lead at 4-3 in the opening minute of the third period, Travis Konecny (3rd) aded some mid-period insurance. Sean Couturier (1st, power play) added an empty netter with a shot from his own blueline.
Martin Jones made his first regular season appearance as a Flyer. He earned the win with 37 saves on 40 shots.
Jeremy Swayman was just so-so in goal for Boston on this night, getting outplayed by Jones. He finished with 19 saves on 24 shots.
The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the power play. and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Additionally, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zack MacEwen made their respective Flyers debuts on this night.
TURNING POINT
The Flyers quick response in the third period to Boston tying the game put Philly in the driver's seat. Boston had several chances but the Flyers continued to make Boston pay for mistakes.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Bruins had the better of the territorial play in the first period: 66.67 percent team Corsi at 5-on-5, seven of the game's first eight shots on goal and 10 of 17 for the period, 9-4 scoring chance edge at 5-on-5 and 3-0 high-danger chance advantage at full strength. Jones erased some early turnovers, including a glaring giveaway by Nicolas Aube-Kubel to keep the Bruins scoreless until the Flyers got going.
2) At 8:08 of the first period, Atkinson made it 1-0. He took a perfect lead pass from Derick Brassard and gained the offensive zone. Atkinson then deked with a head fake in the left circle, and snapped a shot on net. The puck had enough movement on it to end up in the net. Justi Braun got the secondary assist.
The Flyers did a strong job on the game's first power play for Boston. The only scoring chance during the two minutes was a shorthanded bid for Farabee that was stopped by Swayman, However, the Bruins scored shortly thereafter.

An Aube-Kubel turnover started the sequence. A Trent Frederic shot was blocked by Travis Sanheim but bounced right to the eventual goal scorer. Once the puck got to Kuhlman just to the right of the net, it was as good as in. The secondary assist was credited to Tomas Nosek at 16:48.
With Charlie Coyle in the penalty box for tripping Travis Sanheim behind the Flyers' net, Philly struck for a late power play goal to retake the lead. Philly jockied the puck up high in the zone. Ryan Ellis' point shot rattled around in front, but Derick Brassard got the puck to Farabee (just in front of Ivan Provorov) and Farabee stashed it home at 19:51. Farabee now has a three-game goal streak to begin the season.

3) At 1:58 of the second period, the Flyers turned a rush started by Yandle into a goal. Laughton claimed the puck in front and scored as is came out on JVR's shot from a side angle.
The Bruins cut the gap to 3-2 at 9:38 on a breakaway goal for Hall. Unable to get the puck all the way in form inside the offensive zone, Rasmus Ristolainen tried to go off for an ill-timed line change. McAvoy got the lone assist after hitting Hall with a head-mass pass.
As time ticked down to a shade below 60 seconds (59-plus) left on the clock in the middle stanza, Pastrnak tried to jam the puck near the net. In the ensuing scramble, Marchand got to it before Ristolainen at the right side. McAvoy got the secondary helper at 19:00 to tie the game at 3-3. On the shift, Boston got their top line out against the Flyers' 4th line.
4) In terms of puck possession, Boston once again had the edge in the second period: 58 percent team Corsi, 18-10 shot on goal edge, 17-9 scoring chance advantage (10-3 high danger advantage). The big difference was that Boston put two in the cash register to send the game to the third period tied.
5) Farabee intercepted the puck at center ice to start a 100-foot transition rush and turned it into a quick go-ahead goal at the 58-second mark of the third period. Atkinson took the cross-ice feed and slid it home for a 4-3 lead as he was being knocked to the ice by the back-checking Hall. Atkinson then slid into the end boards.

Another Boston miscue in the neutral zone created short ice for the Flyers. Couturier drop-passed to Konency and headed for the net, creating a screen. Konecny timed the shot perfectly and rifled it past Swayman for 5-3 lead at 11:17. Giroux received a secondary assist.

With 2:17 left, the Flyers got a power play after Carlo took an extra pop at Couturier after the whistle in a scrum around the Boston net. That basically ended any chance of a late comeback for Boston.