Flyers Travel to Boston to Take on the Beast of the East
By Scott Cole
It’s coming. The first real test of this hockey season. Yes, I understand that the Flyers have played hard teams and faired well enough. There was the Lightning and two against Florida. The game against Dallas didn’t go so well. But this is different. The Flyers are traveling to Boston on the second game of a three game road trip to take on the mighty Bruins.
They are the best team in the NHL. They are averaging four goals a game! They’ve lost twice…a 7-5 hockey nightmare against Ottawa and a 2-1 goalie duel against Toronto. They are healthy and they are tough. So….here come the Bruins.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 7-5-3 (17 points, 5th in Metro)
It’s not helping that this team is mired in a four game losing steak and will now face off against the league’s best. Those prospects are not good. Even worse is the fact that the Flyers have been losing to the basement teams of the NHL. At the same time, that’s why you play the games. Sometimes good teams look past bad ones and then get caught. Maybe the Bruins will look past the Flyers to their upcoming games against Chicago, Tampa, and Florida.
At the same time, everyone brings their best against the good teams. Just ask Eagles fans how they feel after Monday night’s loss to the Commanders.
Travis Konecny, who has been hot lately, likes to play Boston. In 22 games, he has scored six goals with seven assists. Linemate Kevin Hayes is not far behind with 6 goals and 6 assists in 26 games.
What the game will come down to, ultimately, is Carter Hart’s play. Hart started off his career against Boston with four wins. Since then, he is 0-5-2. That’s not good. The Bruins will look to keep the pressure up against him.
A big problem for the Flyers, lately, has been a lack of fundamentals. Costly penalties have put the team down against teams that can score on the power play. Poor passing has led to turnovers which lead to goals. Those goals, lately, have been leading to losses.
If the Flyers have any chance at beating the Bruins, they can’t play sloppily. The Bruins are too good of a team to let any free chances go to waste. If the Flyers put on their “A-game” and put forth their very best effort, even being depleted by injuries, they could at least keep this game competitive. Make too many mistakes and this could be a blowout.
Projected Lineup
Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett – Noah Cates – Zack MacEwen
Max Willman – Morgan Frost – Joel Farabee
Nicolas Deslauriers – Lukas Sedlak – Patrick Brown
Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Carter Hart
Boston Bruins
Record: 14-2-0 (28 points, 1st in Atlantic)
Boston has been a model of consistency for years. They are usually one of the top seeded teams in the playoffs. In the last six seasons, they’ve reached the playoffs. They made the Stanley Cup finals once, losing to St. Louis in seven games in 2018-19. And while they can’t seem to get past teams like Tampa Bay, they’re usually among the Eastern Conference favorites every year.
David Pastrňák is one of those hockey players who can make you smile and cry at the same time. It’s hard to hate him because he is so, so good. He also makes it easy to hate because he tears the Flyers apart every time they play. In 25 games against the Orange and Black, Pasta has 19 goals, 12 assists and a plus-minus of +13. That includes two hat tricks. His contract with Boston is up at the end of the season. Maybe he’d like to come play in Philly. And in this young season, he has nine goals and 16 assists already. And he isn’t alone.
Patrice Bergeron, another Flyers killer, is having another great season, with eight goals and seven assists, including two goals vs Vancouver on Sunday night. Lifetime, he has 23 goals and 27 assists against Philly. Brad Marchand, everyone’s favorite Bruin, has 17 career goals and 28 assists against Philly. He also did this. Man…I could watch that everyday all day. But Marchand has five goals and six assists this year.
But wait…there’s more! Blueliner Hampus Lindholm is second on the team with 18 points, four of which goals. Out of all their regular players, only David Krejci has a negative plus/minus (-4). Even waiver wire pickup Nick Foligno has scored three goals with four assists. There is not a chink in the armor of this team. They are solid from top to bottom. Nobody is injured. They haven’t played since Sunday, so they are well rested. They are everything the Flyers are not.
Linus Ullmark has started 12 games for Boston and is 12-1 in those games. He is sporting a 1.96 GAA with a save percentage of .936 with one shutout to his credit. Those stats are good for tops in the league amongst all goalies. So the Flyers will find it tough to score this evening.
Not that it matters much. The Bruins rank 1st in the NHL in goals scored, 2nd in goals against, 7th on power play efficiency, and 1st on the penalty kill. In other words, they have no obvious holes. This is a good, good, good team. Just keeping within two goals of a team like this would show that the Flyers are improving and doing well. Somehow coming out of Boston with a win would show that maybe they can turn this season around yet. More than likely, the Bruins will light the lamp up a lot against Philly; but even if the Flyers hang in there, that’s something to be positive about.
Projected Lineup
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall – David Krejci – Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Pavel Zacha
Nick Foligno – Tomas Nosek – A.J. Greer
Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Connor Clifton
Jakub Zboril – Brandon Carlo
Linus Ullmark
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7 PM
Where: Boston Garden
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo Tv
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