Flyers Lineup
Forward lines
Claude Giroux – Kevin Hayes – Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Joel Farabee
Michael Raffl – Connor Bunnaman – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense pairings
Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun
Robert Hagge – Erik Gustafsson
Goaltenders
Brian Elliott – Alex Lyon
Scratches
Mark Friedman, Carter Hart (back spasms), Philippe Myers (upper body)
Injuries
Sean Couturier (rib separation), Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder)
 Game Report
The Flyers were riding high with a four-game win streak, until Wednesday night when those Boston Bruins brought them crashing back down to earth in a 4-3 OT loss. Some familiar problems reared their ugly head for Philadelphia, including weak defense, and penalty trouble. Alain Vigneault announced he would return to Brian Elliott in the crease, but otherwise indicated no other roster changes.
However, once warmups started, it was clear that some unexpected adjustments had been needed. Bill Meltzer (NHL) and Jordan Hall (NBC Sports) reported earlier today that Carter Hart had left the morning skate a bit early, and come game time the Flyers had recalled Alex Lyon from the taxi squad on an emergency basis to back up Elliott. The Flyers announced Hart was suffering from back spasms.
Additionally, Philippe Myers did not take the ice for warmups, with Justin Braun skating in his place, and Robert Hagg drawing in on the third pairing. Myers seemingly picked up an upper body injury during the day.
First Period
The Flyers did a pretty decent job of holding off the Bruins in the opening 10 to 12 minutes of the game. That might not sound like a glowing compliment, but compared to how much Boston has run over this Philadelphia team lately, it was definitely a positive start. The team managed to clog up the neutral zone pretty well, and guys were going out of their way to block a lot of shots.
One thing the Flyers needed to be sure to avoid in this game was taking bad penalties, and Scott Laughton did just that with a slashing call in the opening frame. The penalty killers, however, were up to the task.
Then the heat turned up after Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Connor Clifton dropped the gloves, marking the first Flyers fight of the season. Both players got some solid hits in before heading off to the box. After that it was a veritable turnstile for both penalty boxes: Chris Wagner and Travis Konecny both went in at the same time for roughing and interference, respectively, followed by a Charlie McAvoy high-sticking penalty and a Brandon Carlo hooking call.
With four Bruins players in the box at once, the Flyers had the perfect opportunity to grab a solid hold on this game, but could only tally three shots on goal in all of that power play time.
Second Period
Boston came flying out of the gate in the middle frame, and didn’t waste any time getting shots on net. Elliott was impressive throughout this entire game, and actually has been quite a steadying presence in net for the Flyers this season. He managed to keep the Bruins at bay, allowing the Philadelphia defense to go to work.
In fact, this was the first time in a while that the Flyers actually looked pretty strong on defense, and it meant that Boston couldn’t get many good looks at Elliott’s net. If the Flyers were guilty of anything, it was that they weren’t quick to shoot the puck but rather insisted on passing way too much. They needed to stop overthinking and trying to not be selfish and just get pucks on Tuuka Rask.
After a serving two minutes for a very questionable tripping call on Joel Farabee, the young forward got a breakaway as he jumped out of the box but was hauled down by Jakub Zboril and was awarded a penalty shot. Rask made the save look easy, however, when Farabee came in with a pretty straightforward shot attempt.
With one second left in the period, Wagner took another roughing penalty, giving the Flyers just about a full power play to begin the third period.
Third Period
And that power play was just what the Flyers needed. 27 seconds into the third period, Claude Giroux fed the puck from the corner up to Erik Gustafsson at the point. The defenseman rifled a shot toward net, which James van Riemsdyk redirected into the Boston net. That goal puts van Riemsdyk currently on a six-game point streak.
But for some reason, despite playing one of the most defensively responsible games they’ve had in a while, the Flyers couldn’t hold on to that third period lead. The Bruins won a faceoff in the Flyers’ defensive zone, and got the puck to the net where a big scramble in the crease ensued. Brad Marchand managed to get his stick on the loose puck and bat it over the goal line to tie the game at 1-1.
27 seconds later, Sean Kuraly lasered a shot from the point that sailed past Elliott. It was the goaltender’s one error of the night, and it was a costly one. The Flyers couldn’t recover after those two quick goals, and fell once again to the Bruins.
What’s Next?
With no news after the game on the status of Myers or Oskar Lindblom, who took a shot to the head late in the third period but stayed on the bench, Vigneault did say he liked the team’s five-on-five play a lot better in this game. He’ll put the Flyers through their paces at practice on Saturday as they prepare for a Super Bowl Sunday matinee matchup against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, their first meeting of the season.
Plus / Minus
▲ James van Riemsdyk, Travis Sanheim, Brian Elliott
▼ Scott Laughton
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