Playing their final game before the All-Star break, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (25-18-6) will host Jim Montgomery's Boston Bruins (30-9-9) on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 12:30 p.m. ET.
Prior to the game, at noon, Mark Recchi will be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame. On Friday evening, Recchi scored two goals and earned First Star honors as the Flyers Alumni Team defeated the Bruins Alumni by a 6-2 score.
Saturday's 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 first of three meetings this season between the teams and the first of two in Philadelphia. The Flyers and Bruins will rematch at TD Garden on March 16 before the scene shifts back to Wells Fargo Center on March 23. Last year, the Bruins swept the season series Over the last two season series, the Flyers are 1-5-0 against Boston. A win on Saturday won snap a four-game losing streak versus the Bruins.
On Thursday evening, the Flyers suffered a 3-0 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings; the second time this season Philly has been blanked.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's game:
1. Making their own luck
Of late, the Flyers haven't had many bounces go their way. Three of the goals they've allowed during their four-game skid were on deflected pucks that were either partially blocked shots that radically changed trajectory or hit off a Flyers player's body and redirected into the net.
In hockey, however, both bad luck and good luck are largely self-made. Pay attention to detail, force opponents to repeatedly expend energy in their defensive end zone and, when you're the team defending, kill plays before they turn dangerous. Good habits tend to spawn some good luck, too. The opposite is also true.
2. Forechecking and transition games
The Bruins rank fourth-best in the NHL with a team 2.60 goals against average, and sixth offensively with an average 3.44 goals scored per game. Their 69 standings points is tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the top spot leaguewide. Last season, the Bruins set a single-season NHL points record (135).
Boston is relentless on both sides of the puck. They do not often give up the middle of the ice or opposing stretch passes. The Flyers need to be both patient and opportunistic. If they find themselves settling for one-and-done rushes all afternoon, fail to navigate the neutral zone, and/or repeatedly need two or three opportunities to get the puck out of the defensive zone, the Flyers could have a frustrating day.
On the flip side, go back and rewatch the Flyers wins over the Jets and Stars during the five-game winning streak that preceded the last four games. In those games, the Flyers were the team that dictated the play and put opponents back on their heels.
3. Sanheim, York and Drysdale
The Flyers will need strong two-way games from pretty much their entire lineup -- forwards and defensemen alike -- if they are to take a victory over the Bruis into the All-Star break. The Flyers will need similar five-man unit play against the Bruins to what they displayed in two wins over Vancouver earlier this season and in the aforementioned games against Winnipeg and Dallas.
In terms of the Flyers' defense corps, tracking the shifts produced by Travis Sanheim, Cam York and Jamie Drysdale in particular will tell an important story in how the game goes for the team as a whole. Are they triggering effective breakouts? Are they keeping tight gaps and using their sticks effectively? How well are they handling puck pressure from Boston? Are they joining the attack regularly up the ice?
4. Flyers special teams vs. Bruins special teams
In Detroit, Flyers the PK got right back on track after disappointing results vs. Tampa (4-for-4).
For the season, the Flyers rank second on the penalty kill at 85.6 percent (opponents are 22-for-153). Philly has scored 10 shorthanded goals -- five by Travis Konecny, two by Sean Walker and one apiece by Scott Laughton, Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway -- but just one in January to date.
The Boston power play enters Saturday's game ranked fourth in the NHL at 26.5 percent (39-for-147). The Flyers have learned firsthand in recent years how lethal David Pastrnak in particular is when it comes to sniping goals from the flank or the slot. Philly has also been burned by Charlie McAvoy's ability to join the play up-ice and create chances in the offensive zone.
The Flyers power play had been on a nice 10-game run -- goals in eight of the games, a few prime chances in the games where they did not score on the man advantage -- but they generally looked sloppy and disorganized during Thursday's loss in Detroit. The shorthanded goal that Philly allowed was a second-period backbreaker. For the season, the Flyers rank 29th in the NHL at 13.6 percent on the power play (21-for-155).
Boston's penalty kill ranks ninth in the NHL at 82.5 percent (opponents are 31-for-177). The Bruins have scored three shorthanded goals this season: two by Jake DeBrusk and one by longtime nemesis Brad Marchand.
For the month of January, though, Boston has had some PK issues. Over the last 13 games, the Bruins clock in at 71.2 percent on the penalty kill (opponents are 12-for-43). Overall this season, Boston has taken an excessive number of penalties. Only Anaheim has had to play shorthanded more times (197) than the Bruins (177).
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Boston Bruins
The Bruins are 6-1-3 over their past 10 games and bring a 14-5-6 road record into Saturday's game. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci both retired after last season but the Bruins are still the best team in the Eastern Conference over the first four months of the 2023-24 campaign.
Boston recently rattled off a five-game winning streak. That came to an end on Wednesday in a 3-2 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The next night, however, the Bruins traveled to Ottawa and captured a 3-2 overtime win despite two power play goals scored by the Senators. Pastrnak netted a first period power play goal, Trent Frederic temporarily built a 2-0 lead and Marchard ended the game in sudden death.
The NHL's Second Star of the Week last week, Pastrnak has been on another scoring binge of late. For the season, Pastrnak has already topped the 30-goal mark (his tally in Ottawa was No. 31) and his next point will be his 70th of the campaign.
Marchand is second on the Bruins with 47 points (24g, 23a). He's followed by two-way center Charlie Coyle (17g, 24a) and defenseman Coyle (6g, 25a). Even with the retirements of perennial to Selke Trophy contender Bergeron and long-underrated second-line center Krejci, the Bruins' are still a potent club on both sides of the puck.
The names -- and their games -- are familiar but containing them is a tough task.
In goal, Jeremy Swayman (26 starts, 16-3-7 record, 2.30 GAA, .924 save percentage, three shutouts) and Linus Ullmark (22 starts, 14-6-2, 2.82 GAA, .912 SV%) continue to share time in goal in similar fashion to their usage in 2022-23.
Ullmark stopped 30 of 33 shots in a losing cause against Carolina. Swayman was in goal for the win against Ottawa, with 35 saves on 37 shots.
