Flyers Lineup

Claude Giroux – Kevin Hayes – Joel Farabee

Oksar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Jakub Voracek

Michael Raffl – Connor Bunnaman – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Travis Sanheim

Erik Gustafsson – Justin Braun

Robert Hagg – Mark Friedman

Carter Hart – Brian Elliott

N/A

Sean Couturier (rib separation), Philippe Myers (fractured rib), Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder)

Game Report

Alain Vigneault kicked the day off by confirming that Mark Friedman was healthy and that the roster for this game would look the same as it did on Thursday. The only difference, of course, is that the Flyers would obviously prefer to walk away with two points tonight.

First Period

Philadelphia played a decent game in the first 20 minutes, with noticeable improvements at the faceoff dot, in the neutral zone, and with cleaner zone exits. But they still struggled in the offensive zone with getting quality shots on net. In fact, it took them more than 10 minutes of game play before the Flyers registered a single shot on goal. 

The Bruins capitalized on an early power play opportunity when Friedman went to the box on a weak hooking call and Boston captain Patrice Bergeron smacked in his own rebound. It was going to take a stronger forechecking effort by the Flyers to give themselves some space and get some rhythm going in a drive to the net.

Second Period

Kevin Hayes got the second period started right away when he deflected a Jakub Voracek shot past Jaroslav Halak to even the score at 1-1. Philadelphia’s excitement over the goal was short-lived, however, when Craig Smith managed to put the puck past Carter Hart just over a minute later to retake the lead.

One theme seeming to echo throughout the games was the noticeable amount of penalties NOT called on the Bruins; they seemed to get away with more than their fair share of infractions. Perhaps that was for the best? Once the Flyers finally were awarded their first power play of the game, when Charlie Coyle tripped up Claude Giroux, Philadelphia put two of the most dismal minutes of six-on-five hockey on display. Coyle then made them pay for not capitalizing when he was in the penalty box with a one-handed puck deflection that sailed up over Hart’s shoulder.

Third Period

The third period was an absolute disaster for the Flyers. Brad Marchand scored twice, including a goal on the man advantage as Friedman sat in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Patrice Bergeron potted his second power play goal of the night as well. Philadelphia couldn’t sustain any offensive pressure, couldn’t control the puck, and couldn’t stop turning the puck over, despite Vigneault putting his lines through a blender yet again.

At the final horn, Hart was seen smashing his stick against the net multiple times before angrily skating off the ice, something he apologized for as being “unprofessional” after the game. The apology certainly wasn’t necessary (and actually showed Hart’s high level of professionalism), but it certainly captured the general feeling of the entire Philadelphia team.

What’s Next?

The team returns to Philly, where Shayne Gostisbehere will join them for practice in Voorhees on Monday – his first skate with the Flyers since going on the COVID-19 list. Vigneault has hopes that perhaps Ghost can be ready to play in about a week’s time, when the Flyers return to the Wells Fargo Center, but before then they’ve got to get ready for another two games on the road. Next week they face a very unforgiving New York Islanders team twice, and they’ll need to clean up all of this week’s mistakes very quickly if they hope to hold on to their (barely) winning record.

Plus / Minus

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▼  Erik Gustafsson, Mark Friedman, Travis Konecny