Flyers Lineup

Claude Giroux – Nolan Patrick – Jakub Voracek

Oskar Lindblom – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Joel Farabee

Michael Raffl – Connor Bunnaman – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gostisbehere

Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers

Erik Gustafsson – Justin Braun

Carter Hart – Brian Elliot

Robert Hagg, Samuel Morin, Mark Friedman

Sean Couturier (rib separation), Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder)

Game Report

After four straight wins, the Flyers wanted to keep a good thing going as they welcomed the Boston Bruins to South Philadelphia tonight. Plus, it was captain Claude Giroux’s 900th career NHL game, and the debut of the Flyers’ Reverse Retro jerseys, so there was added incentive to get in the win column again.

Carter Hart got the start in net, in the hopes that he could put his last performance against the Bruins out of his mind, and Alain Vigneault rotated Erik Gustafsson back into the lineup in exchange for Robert Hagg.

First Period

Let’s just say the start of the game was less than ideal for Philadelphia. 12 seconds into the game, David Pastrnak skated into the Flyers zone, skated right around Shayne Gostisbehere and shoveled the puck across Hart’s crease where it deflected into the net off of Ivan Provorov‘s stick.

That goal took the wind immediately out of the Flyers’ sails and the Bruins dominated the opening 10 minutes of the period, pinning Philadelphia in their own zone. The Flyers finally got their first shot on goal about halfway through the frame, but even after that they struggled to complete passes and were guilty of seven giveaways.

The positives? Toward the end of the period they did muster a flurry of shots to even the totals at 8-8 before intermission. And Nicolas Aube-Kubel did his part by laying a few clean but heavy hits in open ice to try to slow the Bruins down.

Second Period

The second period brought more of the same, although the Flyers did manage to tie the game when Travis Sanheim connected with Kevin Hayes. Philippe Myers had the secondary assist on the goal.

But the play surrounding that goal for the rest of the period was average, at best, with a lackluster Flyers power play and persistently poor play from Gostisbehere.

Third Period

It seemed like the Bruins could start running away with this game at any moment, but the Flyers turned things around yet again in the final frame, starting with Jakub Voracek sneaking around the back of the net as Sanheim aimed the puck through traffic in the slot. Voracek was there waiting to put it in back door and give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.

Following that, Joel Farabee lit the lamp with a beautiful top shelf snipe off a cross-ice feed from Scott Laughton to put Philadelphia up by two goals and put the Bruins back on their heels a bit.

But then the penalties started. First it was Aube-Kubel for closing his hand on the puck, and soon Pastrnak had his second goal of the night. With about a minute and a half left for the Flyers to hang on to their lead, Hayes went off on a questionable hooking call. Hart came up with some brilliant saves, but with just seconds left in regulation Pastrnak completed his hat trick and forced overtime.

The Bruins had another power play to start the overtime period, as Laughton took an ill-timed interference penalty moments before the end of the third period. It didn’t take long for Patrice Bergeron to find the back of the net to hand the Flyers a devastating OT loss.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲  Joel Farabee, Carter Hart, Travis Sanheim

▼  Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Scott Laughton, Shayne Gostisbehere