Flyers Lineup

James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Joel Farabee

Michael Raffl – Kevin Hayes – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Connor Bunnaman – Nolan Patrick – Maksim Sushko

Samuel Morin – Andy Andreoff – Mark Friedman

Ivan Provorov – Philippe Myers

Travis Sanheim – Shayne Gostisbehere

Robert Hägg – Erik Gustafsson

Carter Hart – Brian Elliott

Maksim Sushko, Claude Giroux (COVID-19), Jakub Voracek (COVID-19), Justin Braun (COVID-19), Oskar Lindblom (COVID-19), Scott Laughton (COVID-19), Travis Konecny (COVID-19)

Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder)

Game Report

It was a game that sometime felt as though it would never happen. Between the uncertainly of the Flyers’ status due to their recent troubles with COVID-19, the previous day’s game getting delayed by nine hours due to the sun deteriorating the ice conditions and Philadelphia’s Sunday start time consequently getting pushed back, and a Zamboni malfunction after warmups, it came as a great relief when the Flyers and Bruins finally took the ice to start this game.

With a stunning backdrop of a setting sun over the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, a depleted Flyers lineup looked to win their second of six outdoor games they’ve participated in, and get a first victory over Boston this season while they were at it. 

First Period

Who else but David Pastrnak would put an immediate damper on the festivities by scoring a goal just 34 seconds into the game when Brad Marchand connected with him on a two-on-one.

But the Flyers didn’t let that deflate them, and Joel Farabee evened the score about eight minutes later when he scooped up a puck rebounding off the end boards and put it past Tuuka Rask as Farabee lost an edge and went sliding into the net.

Later, Sean Couturier jumped out of the penalty box, pounced on the puck, made a slick drop pass to a trailing Kevin Hayes who put a shot on Rask and, after a scramble around the crease, Couturier buried a rebound to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.

The Bruins wouldn’t go away, though, and Charlie McAvoy tied the game yet again before the end of the period when he fired off a big one-timer from the point that beat Carter Hart clean.

Second Period

Things came off the rails in the second period for Philadelphia. After putting on a better-than-expected performance in the opening 20 minutes, they played a brutal second period and allowed Boston to pile on four more goals.

Pastrnak started the streak less than a minute into the period, and was followed by goals from Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, and Nick Ritchie. Those last three goals were scored within 99 seconds of each other, as Hart increasingly started to look less and less confident in net and allowing goals that were uncharacteristically soft.

As the teams left the ice for intermission, Brian Elliott grabbed his goalie stick and did a quick series of stretches on the ice, indicating he would be taking over in the crease for the third period.

Third Period

Elliott did provide a bit of stability in the net, fighting off a number of dangerous scoring chances, and stopping the bleeding for a bit. James van Reimsdyk kept his foot on the gas, driving to the net, and tipping a puck that deflected off of a Bruin skate and into Rask’s net.

If the Flyers thought that was the first step in a slow but steady comeback, Pastrnak put an end to those hopes when he completed the hat trick with his third goal of the night. The Boston forward has now scored two hat tricks against the Flyers this month.

What’s Next?

Although the Flyers and Bruins did meet at center ice to “shake hands”, a nice display of sportsmanship, no amount of good will could take away the sting of losing in such a brutal manner. To add insult to injury, the post-game interview with Hart had to be cut short, as the NHL’s microphone wasn’t picking up anything the goaltender was saying to the media.

The Flyers now head back to Pennsylvania where they’ll start preparations for Wednesday night’s game against the Rangers. Fingers are crossed that perhaps some or all of their missing players will be able to return to the lineup in time.

Plus / Minus

▲  Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk

▼  Carter Hart, Andy Andreoff