Bruins Shut Out By Flyers, Fall to 4-5-1

BOSTON -- Samuel Ersson made 23 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2-0 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.

“He fights, and the team likes playing in front of him,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “It’s such a unique position as far as what a goaltender does for a team’s psyche, and Sam has done that pretty steady for us. … Sam made some big saves at key times to keep us there.”

Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia (3-6-1), which has won two of its past three (2-1-0). Defenseman Emil Andrae had an assist for his first NHL point.

“We’re just trying to get back to [grinding out wins] here,” Foerster said. “That gives us some confidence that we can play in these games, and we got a win tonight, which helps.”

Joonas Korpisalo made 17 saves for Boston (4-5-1), which has lost four of its past five (1-3-1).

“We’re not making plays. We’re not doing enough to generate high-danger scoring chances,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Whether that’s a will to go to those areas or not the right game plan, we’re all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”

The Bruins had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:37 during the first period when Scott Laughton and Travis Sanheim were called for penalties 23 seconds apart, but Boston failed to capitalize.

Foerster gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 5:32 of the second period, finishing Andrae’s centering pass from the slot.

“It’s nice to get that, of course, in a game like this when we’re struggling a little bit,” Andrae said. “So it was nice to put a goal up there and for the guys, and it’s a great shot by [Foerster] too, so it felt good.”

Bruins captain Brad Marchand nearly scored a short-handed goal in the third period, sending the puck from behind the net off Ersson’s skate and toward the goal line, but the goalie fell on it and kept the puck out with his glove.

“You have to respect every team every night,” Marchand said. “We had opportunities tonight, especially the first two periods. After the second, it easily could have been a tie game, but we let it get away from us a little bit, and again, just have to continue to build on the right things.”

Farabee had a net-front deflection off a pass from Ryan Poehling at 16:04 of the third, but Korpisalo turned it away.

“It’s been a while since I played last time, so I just tried to go out there and enjoy the game,” said Korpisalo, who made his first start since Oct. 16. “Just put everything I got [out] there.”

Flyers captain Sean Couturier had a breakaway at 16:57 after blocking a shot from Mason Lohrei at the point, but Korpisalo made another stop to keep the Bruins within one.

Farabee scored an empty-net goal after intercepting Charlie McAvoy’s pass at Boston’s blue line at 19:36 for the 2-0 final.

“We played a strong game,” Laughton said. “I thought sometimes it was ugly, but we needed a win like that at this time in the year when we can’t get much going. 1-0 late in the game, and we found a way. We had better sticks, we closed out on plays better. It feels good. We got a long way to go, but it’s a good start.”

NOTES: Ersson became the third Flyers goaltender with a shutout in Boston, joining Antero Niittymaki (Jan. 2, 2006) and Brian Boucher (March 4, 2000). … The Bruins failed to record a point at home against the Flyers for the first time since Oct. 6, 2011. Tuesday’s loss snapped a 20-game home point streak against Philadelphia.