Friday night’s game started with more injury problems for the Flyers.
And that ends with more problems in the third period against the Bruins, as the Flyers fail to beat Boston 2-1 at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers (7-3-2) could not hold a 1-0 lead in the last frame and missed a chance at first place in the Eastern Division.
The honor of first place currently goes to the Bruins (8-1-2), who are on the roll and have taken all four meetings of the Flyers. Alain Vigneault’s club is 0-2-2 against Boston and will face it four more times.
• When it comes to winning time, the Browns have owned the Flyers through four games.
Both teams each scored four goals over the first two periods. Then Boston turns it on. The Bruins outscored the Flyers 11-5 in the final stanza. In three of their losses against Boston, the Flyers conceded a lead in the third period.
In the Flyers’ other eight games, they conceded only six goals for the third period.
The Bruins are one of the best teams in hockey and have one of the best top lines in hockey. The Flyers may at least know they’re late there, but they need to find a way to finish.
The Flyers could probably look back and say that three of the four games were more than profitable for them. They lost a 3-1 lead on Wednesday night.
• Brian Elliott hit 21 shots on 23 shots. He recorded his first loss in four games when Boston beat him in the third period for two goals in a span of 27 seconds.
The second goal was to get an outside shot from Sean Kuraly, fourth line, without going ahead. Elliott appeared frustrated after the goal. He probably knew he could have had that one. The goal was ultimately the match winner.
• James van Riemsdyk’s turbulent start continued with one of his characteristic instructions about the power play to break the ice early in the third period.
The Flyers also needed it a lot, because the man advantage was 0 for 3 and out of order before Van Riemsdyk delivered.
The goal was from Riemsdyk’s fifth on the power play this season. He had four man-advantage marks in 66 games last season.
JVR is on a points game of six games in which he has 11 points (three goals, eight assistants).
With the opportunity to tie the game in the final four minutes, the Flyers could not earn money for a power play.
• The Bruins’ star-studded first line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak penetrated the game goal with just under eight minutes remaining regulation.
Marchand passed with a rebound and Pastrnak scored the primary assist.
The trio tipped the Flyers Wednesday with four goals and five assists. Pastrnak had a hat trick and assistant.
“I hope he has a discount because the performance he offered in the last game was one of the best I’ve seen in a while,” Vigneault said on Friday morning laughing.
The Flyers kept Boston’s power play at 0 for 2, but they once again struggled to fend off the Bruins in the final 20 minutes.
• Oskar Lindblom got a big hit with more than four and a half minutes of regulation and did not take a shift again.
• Ivan Provorov recently had trouble handling the shooter around the point on the power play.
During the match, Vigneault moved Erik Gustafsson to the top advantage unit. The move paid off on Van Riemsdyk’s goal, as the smooth passing Gustafsson scored the primary assist.
The move could be just as much about Vigneault wanting to highlight Gustafsson’s strengths and involve him more aggressively.
• The injury bug bit the Flyers again as Carter Hart and Philippe Myers were unavailable (more on this).
With Myers’ absence, the Flyers use a different combination of six defenders for the seventh consecutive game.
• In the first game of the Flyers season, Nicolas Aube-Kubel dropped the gloves in the first period with Connor Clifton, the Boston defender. (see video).
• As part of the NHL’s revised COVID-19 arena protocols, the glass boards are no longer behind the teams’ benches.
The Flyers meet the Capitals for the first time this season with a few games over Sunday (afternoon ET / NBC) and Tuesday (18:00 ET / NBCSP).
Sign in and rate Flyers Talk
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Youtube