Flyers Streak Hits 6 with Loss to Bruins
It just keeps going from bad to worse. Adding injury to insult, the Philadelphia Flyers were down two more regulars for Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins. Not that it would have likely changed any result.
The lifeless Flyers continued their free fall to start the season, allowing three goals in the third period of a 5-1 defeat to the Bruins, their sixth straight loss to start the season on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.
How It Happened
The Bruins struck first at 12:21 off a turnover. Pavel Zacha executed a give-and-go with David Pastrnak and fired a shot that Daniel Vladar partially stopped but leaked through to open the scoring.
Through 20 minutes, the Bruins had a 12-3 lead in shots.
Late in the second, the Bruins added to the lead. Mason Lohrei finished off a 4-on-2 rush with his second goal of the season with 2:48 remaining in the period.
After two periods, shots were 22-8 Boston.
Just 1:55 into the third, the Bruins extended their lead with Marat Khusnutdinov scoring his first of the season to make it 3-0.
The Flyers got a goal back on the power play as Porter Martone got his first of the season with a great sharp-angle shot at 6:32. But less than three minutes later, Boston got the goal back with Casey Mittelstadt getting his second of the season.
Fraser Minten capped the scoring with 4:01 remaining to make it a 5-1 game.
Box Score
1st Period
- BOS Pavel Zacha (1) (David Pastrnak) 12:21
2nd Period
- BOS Mason Lohrei (2) (JJ Peterka, Frazer Minten) 17:12
3rd Period
- BOS Marat Khusnutdinov (1) (Minten, William Borgen) 1:55
- PHI Porter Martone (1) PP (David Jiricek, Denver Barkey) 6:32
- BOS Casey Mittelstadt (2) (Elias Lindholm, James Hagens) 9:21
- BOS Minten (2) (Peterka, Hampus Lindholm) 15:59
By the Numbers
- Shots: Flyers: 15, Bruins: 32
- Power Play: Flyers: 1-for-3, Bruins: 0-for-2
- Faceoffs: Flyers: 44.9%, Bruins: 55.1%
- Goalies: PHI Dan Vladar: 27 saves on 32 shots, BOS Jeremy Swayman: 14 saves on 15 shots
Key Performers
⭐ Frazer Minten — Minten was the star of the show on Saturday. His late goal was inconsequential on the final score, but he factored into two of the other goals for a three-point game, continuing to build his star power.
⭐⭐ JJ Peterka — Peterka entered the game with two goals, and added two assists to the list to even his totals for the season, a strong start to his first season in Boston.
⭐⭐⭐ Marat Khusnutdinov — His first goal of the season essentially put the game away. Regardless of what happened from there, the Flyers, who barely average one goal per game, were not going to mount a comeback from that early third-period goal.
The Takeaway
Well, this took all of the so-called positives of Thursday's game and threw them right out the window. This was as bad as it gets, and that's saying a lot with a 7-0 drubbing in the opener and four other losses already in the books.
Everything that plagued the team leading into Thursday's game was present again. No signs of improvement. No juice to the game. No compete. Nothing. It's a chore to watch.
It's getting late early, as the Flyers prepare to welcome the defending Stanley Cup champions back in on Sunday night with a seventh straight defeat looming. There is no reason to believe it will improve anytime soon. They haven't earned that. So there's every reason to believe that this is their identity.
Up Next
The Flyers are right back in action on Sunday night at home for another meeting against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 PM.
Video Recap
Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.
