These three players stood out the most for the Philadelphia Flyers in their shootout win over the Boston Bruins.
Coming in hoping to earn their fourth straight win, the Philadelphia Flyers finished out the second half of a back-to-back by taking on the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden. The Flyers also entered this contest riding a five-game point streak and aimed to extend it to six while handing Boston their third straight loss in the process. Carter Hart got the nod from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and opposed Jaroslav Halak in-net.
The Flyers flat-out dominated the Bruins in the opening period. They played sound hockey in all three zones of the ice, creating chances, checking skaters, and rounded it all out by killing a penalty through the 20-minute frame. Philadelphia carried a 14-3 shots on goal advantage at 5-on-5 into the second while also possessing a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Travis Konecny and Philippe Myers.
The second period was rather uneventful compared to the first. Boston thought they cut the Flyers lead in half early on, but a Bruins player used their stick to push Hart’s leg pad across the line, which is illegal. I know, I was surprised a team from the Boston area got caught cheating, too. I’ve never seen that happen before. Anyways, outside of that, both sides combined for just 11 shots-on-net and the Flyers still led by two entering the final period of regulation.
Boston would eventually get within one, though, as Danton Heinen scored on a turnaround shot in front of the crease for his fourth goal of the season. Claude Giroux tried to bat the puck out of the air, but it ended up finding the stick of Heinen and behind Hart shortly after. You had to expect the Bruins would start to come alive at some point, especially with Philadelphia on the second stint of a back-to-back and they did just that in the third.
Through all of the pressure, Brad Marchand would eventually tie things up with a snipe from the left circle, which ended up being the goal that sent things to overtime. Neither squad could put themselves ahead in OT, sending yet another game to a shootout, where Joel Farabee scored in the first round and Hart stopped David Pastrnak in round three to seal the victory for Philly.
Looking at some of the standouts for the Flyers in this game, how could I not mention the play from Myers in this one? The young defenseman has been on fire as of late, scoring a goal in his third straight game that gifted the Orange and Black with a two-goal lead in the first. The shot was an absolute snipe, as well, banking the puck off of the goalpost from the right circle to beat Halak. He was a beast in the defensive zone, too, most notably blocking what would have been a sure-fire goal from Patrice Bergeron early in the third. Myers showcased excellence in yet another game since getting called up from the AHL a couple of weeks ago and hopefully, can keep it up as the season goes along.
The second-line of Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Oskar Lindblom were up to their old tricks in this one. TLC, the CLiK, whatever you want to call them combined for four points on the night, with TK earning half of them with a goal and an assist. The trio was easily Philadelphia’s best line in this contest, posting a 66.67 Corsi For, 60.00 Fenwick For, and 75.83 Expected Goals For percentages at 5-on-5, which all led every line on the team. For reference, neither of the other three combos had a CF% or FF% above 50.00, showing just how good Konecny, Coots, and Lindblom were against Boston.
I have to cheat a little bit here and mentioned Hart as my last standout player for Philly. After seeing just ten shots in the first two periods, the 21-year-old netminder made 15 saves in the third to help send this game to extras. Two of them came while Philadelphia was shorthanded, sliding across the crease on two different occasions to rob the Bruins. He also stopped a talented goal-scorer in Pastrnak on a penalty shot opportunity in the frame, boasting patience as he waited out the Czech forward to make the stop. The Flyers don’t get a point in this one without their young goaltending coming up huge and for that, Hart deserves all of the praise.
The Flyers are now 10-5-2 on the season! Next game is Wednesday against the Washington Capitals.