When you come into a Saturday night game, in which you are 4-5-1 in your last ten, the Philadelphia Flyers needed to get going. So, they were playing a Boston Bruins team, that is 5-2-3 in their last ten, and were only one point out of the Atlantic Division lead. Philadelphia decided to start Felix Sandstrom, who came into relief on Thursday night, and played okay for a period, before giving up three goals in the third period. Boston was going with Jeremy Swayman, who is 21-7-8 with a 2.49 GAA. So, we will breakdown this game, and look at what was good, what was bad in each period.
Good-1st period.
- Philadelphia starts strong. It seems like the Flyers do not draw first blood in a game they have played lately, but on Saturday they did, as after a Bruins turnover, it was Egor Zamula feeding Garnet Hathaway, who fed Ryan Poehling and he one-timed it by Swayman for goal #9 at 4:18. Philadelphia needs more of this, if they want to be a playoff team.
Bad-1st period.
- Missing an opportunity. Philadelphia had a chance in the 1st period, when Travis Konecny took a ricochet off the glass, and went in on a breakaway, and Swayman made two great saves. The Bruins then countered afterwards, and Morgan Geekie did not miss, as he blasted it over the right shoulder to tie the game at 1-1. This was rough, as if Konecny puts in in the net, most likely Philadelphia is up 2-0 after one period. Instead, they were tied at 1-1 after one period. The Flyers need wins, and moments like this could be rough to a team’s mindset.
Good-2nd period.
- Keeping it simple. Philadelphia in the first half of the second period stayed toe-to-toe with Boston. They were outshooting them and outhitting them, and irritated them so much, it led to a Flyers power play. Now, Philadelphia’s power play is bad, but right at the tail end, Cam York took a shot that was deflected by Joel Farabee for his 20th of the season. It was not a power play goal, but technically it was like a 5-on-4, as Charlie McAvoy was just getting back into the play, as the puck went in. This was huge to get the momentum back, as the goal silenced the Bruins faithful.
Bad-2nd period.
- The penalty kill struggles. Once again, another bad penalty by Philadelphia, and a defense that has injuries to key players was shorthanded. In the last few games, the Flyers have been giving up several goals a game on the penalty kill, and it took the Bruins 38 seconds into the power play to tie the game at 2-2, as Charlie Coyle tapped the puck into an open net for his 22nd of the year. Hopefully, in the near future one of these defensemen returns to the lineup, but in the meantime, all of them need to step up their game.
Bad-3rd period.
- When it rains…it pours. It was bad! Just like on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia gave up three goals in 4:04, and it went from 2-2 to 5-2 Bruins. Yes, Boston is a great hockey team, but the Flyers have slammed the wall. It seems it is everything at the moment, including injuries, play on the ice, mentality after giving up a goal and let us not forget this gauntlet of a schedule (Boston twice, Toronto twice, Carolina, Florida and NY Rangers). Yes, the Flyers came back and made it 5-4, but Boston came down, and scored a dagger that made it 6-4. This team needs to find their game, or they will be on the outside looking in.