5 THINGS: Flyers @ Bruins

John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (18-18-7) are in Beantown on Monday afternoon to take on Jim Montgomery's Boston Bruins (33-5-4). Game time at TD Garden is 1:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second of three meetings this season between the teams, and the second and final game in Boston. The lone game at the Wells Fargo Center will take place on the evening of April 9.
Back on Nov. 17, the Flyers suffered a 4-1 road loss at the Bruins' hands. There was no faulting Philadelphia's effort level. The Flyers battled gamely but the team was ultimately overmatched.
A fairly evenly played first period was scoreless. Tomas Nosek (2nd goal of the season) put Boston ahead, 1-0, at 11:58 of the second period; the game's only goal through 40 minutes. In the third period, Boston pulled away.
A Jake DeBrusk power play goal at 7:32 made it 2-0 Boston. An Owen Tippett power play tally very briefly narrowed the deficit to 2-1 but the Flyers gave up a backbreaking goal to David Krejci just 16 seconds later. Subsequently, Krejci added a power play goal at 16:21 to extend the Bruins' lead to three goals.
In a losing effort, Carter Hart made 28 saves on 32 shots. Linus Ullmark earned the win with 23 stops on 24 shots. In the same game, the Flyers lost leading scorer Travis Konecny to a right hand injury late in the second period. He missed the next six games.
The Flyers enter the MLK Day matinee in Boston sporting seven wins in their last eight games and three victories in a row. The team is coming off a 3-1 win in Washington on Saturday to complete a sweep of a home-and-home set with the Capitals.
The Bruins boast the NHL's best overall and top home record (20-1-3) to date this season..Boston has points in nine of their last 10 games (7-1-2) and enters this game coming off a dramatic 4-3 home win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The victory was punctuated by defenseman Matt Grzelcyk scoring the game-winning goal (2nd goal of the season) at 18:44 of the third period. Two nights earlier, the Bruins sustained their first home regulation loss of the 2022-23 season as Dave Hakstol's Seattle Kraken earned a 3-0 shutout win.
Here are five things to watch in this game.
1. Situational Play and Discipline
The reason why the Bruins have compiled such a stellar record this season: it's hard to game plan a strategy to defeat a deep team that executes well in virtually every major facet of the game. An opponent must be clean with the puck in all three zones, stay out of the penalty box, and be opportunistic in finishing scoring chances. That's easier said than done, of course. A dose of favorable puck luck helps the cause, too.
The Flyers can only worry about themselves, not their opponents. They've been trending the right way for several weeks in a variety of positive areas including having scored three or more goals in 11 of their last 12 games.
Dating back to Dec. 11, Flyers have climbed from 31st in the NHL in goals per game up five spots in the rankings to 26th (2.84 goals per game) on the season. Specific to Philly's last 15 games (Dec. 11 to Saturday's game in Washington), the Flyers rank 4th in the NHL at 3.73 goals per game.
In terms of full-season consistency, however, it's hard not to look at what the Bruins have accomplished so far this season and not be impressed. The Bruins are:
* The NHL's hardest team to score against, leading the NHL with a 2.17 team goals against average (the Winnipeg Jets are second at a 2.59 team GAA).
* The NHL's second highest-scoring team, tied with Seattle at an average 3.76 goals scored per game.
* The NHL's best five-on-five team, with a plus-40 (100 GF to 60 GA) goal differential as a team.
* The NHL's No. 1 penalty killing team. The Bruins will take some penalties -- shorthanded situations per game is one category where Boston ranks in the bottom one-third of the league -- but their 85.6 percent success rate in killing penalties (opponents are 21-for-146 on the power play) tops the league.
* The NHL's No. 4 ranked power play team at 27.6 percent. The Flyers have been repeatedly scorched by Boston's power play over the last few seasons -- especially by David Pastrnak -- and were burned again in the first meeting of this year's season series.
* The NHL's No. 3 ranked team in expected goal differential (54.64 percent share) at five-on-five.
* The NHL's No. 5 ranked team in shots on goal volume (34.3 per game) and the No. 7 team in shot attempts for/against share (52.18 percent Corsi) at 5-on-5.
* The NHL's No. 2 ranked faceoff team (55.9 percent).
* The only team in the NHL that does not have a single regulation loss when scoring first in a game (21-0-2). The Bruins are unbeaten (19-0-0) when leading after one period, 22-0-1 and when leading after two periods (the Flyers are 13-0-1). Even when trailing (3-4-3) or tied (8-1-0) after two periods, the Bruins are relentless. Boston is the NHL's best third period team (62 GF to 25 GA).
All totaled, that doesn't give the Flyers much margin for error. They'll have to play their "A" game and try to throw the Bruins off their own. Some recently positive- trending that may help:
* The Flyers lead the NHL with eight shorthanded goals: three apiece from Konecny and Scott Laughton and one each for Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim.
* The Flyers' penalty kill has gone 18-for-21 (85.7) in their eight games since the leaguewide holiday break, with two shorthanded goals scored. While the power play has been wildly inconsistent even in that span, the Flyers are 6-for-25 overall (24 percent) over the last eight games.
* Philly's 5-on-5 goal differential over the last eight games is plus-eight (22 GF - 14 GA). The Bruins, who have played nine games in the same span are plus-10 (24 GA- 14 GA).

For the season, the Flyers rank third in the NHL in credited hits per game (29.16 on average), second in blocked shots (17.19 percent), and sixth in fewest charged giveaways (6.63 per game). While these numbers reflect the Flyers' overall need to have the puck in their possession more often, they also show the team's improved competitive drive.
2. Konecny and Laughton
Last game against Washington, Konecny saw his 10-game point streak (10g, 10a) snapped. He was held quiet offensively for the first two periods. Konecny subsequently had a couple of point-getting opportunities, but none wound up in the Caps' net to enable him to extend the streak.
For the entire 2022-23 season to date, TK has only been held without a point in back-to-back games once. He's never gone three or more pointless games so far this season.
In the meantime, Laughton has been playing outstanding hockey on both sides of the puck, playing extensively across all manpower situations. Offensively, Laughton had a combined two goals and five points in the home-and-home set with Washington. Overall, dating back to Dec. 15, Laughton has posted at least one point in 10 of 13 games (7g, 8a, 15 points).
3. Reconfigured power play units
Over the last three games, Tortorella and assistant coach Rocky Thompson have made some tweaks to the power play unit configuration. The Kevin Hayes unit (which also includes James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Frost) has become PP2. Konecny has been moved onto Laughton's unit, as has Tony DeAngelo, and the Laughton unit has become the PP1 squad that starts most power plays.
As noted above, Laughton has become an all-situations player for Tortorella. He has five power play goals -- including a deflection tally last game against Washington on a high tip -- and three power play assists. A penalty killer for most of his NHL career, Laughton has emerged this season as a prime shorthanded scoring threat. He's tallied three shorties and assisted on three others (all by Konecny). On shorthanded breakaways, Laughton has scored three times on the same forehand to backhand move that teammates have dubbed "the paralyzer".
When leading in the third period, especially in the last six minutes, the Flyers have adopted an old-school look -- three forwards and two defensemen on the ice -- if they get a power play. The purpose is to prevent opposing shorthanded chances as much as it to try to add an insurance goal.
Similarly, in recent weeks, if a game moves past regulation to 3-on-3 sudden death overtime, the Flyers have used two defensemen and one forward A 2F/1D setups that have become the norm in most of the league, but the Flyers didn't win a single game decided in overtime until after Christmas.
4. Flyers Line Play
This is going to be a very busy week for the Flyers. Rest opportunities will be at a premium and there won't be opportunities in practice. Thus, the Flyers will not hold a morning skate on Monday or Tuesday when they play Boston and Anaheim back-to-back. Wednesday will be an off day before the Flyers are right back in action to play Chicago on Thursday.
Tortorella has said that he's comfortable and pleased with how the team's four forward lines and three defense pairs have been performing and the starting five-on-five personnel and combinations have been the same for several weeks. That's unlikely to chance right now.
The biggest decision is how to divide the goaltending workload between Carter Hart and Samuel Ersson. Tortorella will announce his starting goalie for the matinee in Boston at approximately 11 a.m. ET.
Projected lineup (subject to change):
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
33 Samuel Ersson
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Boston Bruins
DeBrusk suffered a fractured fibula in the Winter Classic. He's been placed on long-term injured reserve. The Bruins will miss the 26-year-old winger. He's been having an excellent season (16 goals, 14 assists, 30 points and 109 shots on goal in 36 games). However, Boston is a very deep team and can withstand the absence.
Through the years, the Bruins' long-running top line trio of serial pest Brad Marchand (13g, 25a), perennial Selke Trophy candidate Patrice Bergeron (16g, 18a) and pure sniper Pastrnak (33 goals including 12 power play tallies, 26a, team-leading 59 points) has done more than its share of damage against the Flyers.
With the last line change at home, Montgomery will often be able to handpick the desired matchup for Bergeron's line if he so chooses. Boston could try to target the Frost line with the Bergeron line or simply play the line rotations straight up for most of the afternoon because the Bruins have an on-paper edge in most matchups.
Even with DeBrusk out of the lineup, the Bruins have two other players who've compiled 30 or more points this season. Veteran center David Krejci has 31 points (11g, 20a) and former 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall has 30 points (13g, 17a).
In the meantime, the Bruins have a formidable blueline with Charlie McAvoy (22:56 TOI, 23 points in 29 games) and Hampus Lindholm (23:43 TOI, 28 points in 42 games) as the hub of their respective pairings. It should be noted that the pairing of Lindholm and Brandon Carlo had some difficulties in the loss to Seattle and an uneven game in Saturday's win against Toronto. Overall, though, Lindholm in particular has had an excellent season.
In net NHL All-Star Game selection Linus Ullmark has held up his end of the bargain with a 23-2-1 record, 1.92 GAA, .936 save percentage and a pair of shutouts. Backup Jeremy Swayman, who has had some success against Philly in his career to date, has appeared in 16 games (9-3-3 record, 2.51 GAA, .905 save percentage).
The Bruins' depth atop the lineup -- with Krejci back in the NHL after a one-year hiatus to play at home in the Czech Republic -- has enabled Montgomery to slot his personnel in their ideal spots in the lineup. Specifically, veteran Charlie Coyle (10g, 13a, 23 points, 55.1 percent faceoff percentage) thrives in a third-line role. Pavel Zacha has 20 assists among his 25 points. Straight on down to the 4th line, Boston usually can rely on high-quality shifts no matter who is on the ice.
Montgomery has tweaked certain aspects of the systems Boston employed during the Bruce Cassidy era,but didn't have to reinvent the wheel. The Flyers have been having good results since Tortorella made an in-season adjustment to their neutral zone forecheck. Philly has also become better on breakouts from the defensive zone. However, the Bruins figure to put both of these areas to the test.
Projected lineup (subject to change):
63 Brad Marchand - 37 Patrice Bergeron - 88 David Pastrnak
71 Taylor Hall - 46 David Krejci - 12 Craig Smith
18 Pavel Zacha - 13 Charlie Coyle - 11 Trent Frederic
17 Nick Foligno - 92 Tomas Nosek - 10 A.J. Greer
48 Matt Grzelcyk - 73 Charlie McAvoy
27 Hampus Lindholm - 25 Brandon Carlo
28 Derek Forbort - 75 Connor Clifton
35 Linus Ullmark
1 Jeremy Swayman