Need to Know: Bruins vs. Flyers

BOSTON – The Bruins will be in search of their seventh win in nine games on Saturday afternoon when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in a matinée at TD Garden. The tilt is Boston’s last before a monster, 12-day, five-game Western road trip that begins on Tuesday in Winnipeg.

“Big game [on Saturday] and big road trip coming up, so gotta keep it going,” Morgan Geekie said following Friday’s practice at Warrior ice Arena. “We’ve played really well lately. We’re trying to carry that confidence.”

Here’s everything else you need to know ahead of Saturday’s 1 p.m. ET puck drop on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Reunited at the Top

Interim head coach Joe Sacco was looking for a bit of a spark.

With the Bruins off to a sluggish start on the second end of a back-to-back on Wednesday night in Chicago, he decided to go back to old reliable and pair up Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak with Elias Lindholm in the middle of Boston’s top line.

The reunion paid off as Pastrnak and Marchand immediately connected for two goals en route to helping guide Boston a 4-2 win over the Blackhawks.

“We just felt like we needed a spark at that point,” said Sacco. “I thought that we got off to a sluggish start, which was somewhat to be expected. But you don’t want to get off to a start like that. It was just a feeling that we had and it worked out for that game. We’ll see where it goes moving forward.

“We got a good response from Marchy and David and Lindy together. And then the second line as well. They gave us a good response there, too.”

Pastrnak said that the chemistry he has developed with Marchand over the past decade – after years of skating on a line with him and Patrice Bergeron, as well as being on the same power-play unit – came flowing back.

“It’s been a while since we actually connected and played together,” said Pastrnak. “For me, that changed the game last game. Both lines got going and sometimes that’s what you need. The season is long. Personally, it got me going last game.”

The switch got Boston’s second line rolling, too, as Morgan Geekie potted two goals while playing alongside Pavel Zacha and Justin Brazeau.

“I think we feed off each other, we’ve got three different games and we can play off that,” said Geekie. “Braz is huge and plays in front of the net, Pav can try to get open for him and get pucks to the net.”

Sacco said the secondary scoring from Geekie and others in the middle six is critical to Boston’s success.

“Offensively, that was a big boost for us last game,” said Sacco. “Moving forward here, we need that. You can’t just rely on one line or a few players offensively to carry the load. We need that secondary scoring. We got it last game and hopefully that continues.”

Wait, There’s More

• Sacco said that Hampus Lindholm, who has been out since Nov. 12 with a lower-body injury, is “still out weeks.”
• The Flyers enter Saturday’s game coming off a 7-5 loss to Florida on Thursday, which snapped a three-game winning streak. Overall, Philadelphia is 12-11-3 (27 points), which is tied with the Rangers for fourth in the Metro Division.
• Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 30 points and 13 goals in 26 games, while rookie Matvei Michkov has 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists) in 24 games.

Friday’s Practice Lineup

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak

Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – Justin Brazeau

Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Mark Kastelic

Cole Koepke – Johnny Beecher – Marc McLaughlin

Tyler Johnson

DEFENSEMEN

Jordan Oesterle – Charlie McAvoy

Nikita Zadorov – Brandon Carlo

Mason Lohrei – Andrew Peeke

Parker Wotherspoon

GOALIES

Jeremy Swayman

Joonas Korpisalo