POSTGAME 5: Bruins Blitz Flyers, 5-2

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening. The Flyers erased a two-goal deficit in the second period but then Boston pulled away.

Philadelphia finished its three-game homestand with a 1-1-1 record.
Tomas Nosek (2nd goal of the season) scored late in the first period to open a 1-0 lead for Boston. Derek Forbort (3rd) and Derick Brassard (3rd) traded off early second period markers. Brassard (PPG, 4th) then tallied again, this time on the power play to knot the score at 2-2. Forbort notched his second goal of the game in the latter stages of the second period to put Boston ahead again, 3-2.
Early in the third period, Craig Smith (1st) re-established a two-goal lead for the Bruins. David Pastrnak (5th) added further insurance during a 4-on-4.
Martin Jones was sharp early but was eventually solved five times by the Bruins. He finished with 39 saves on 44 shots. Linus Ullmark earned the win in net for Boston. Ullmark stopped 28 of 30 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3on the penalty kill.
TURNING POINT
The Flyers climbed out of an 0-2 hole in the second period to battle back to tie the game. The match was up for grabs although Boston had dominated early. When Forbort scored his second goal of the game for Boston, the Bruins did not squander the edge again.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Show no ill-effects from a five-night hiatus in their game schedule, the Bruins jumped on the Flyers right off the bat. Boston applied heavy forechecking pressure and physical presence. The Bruins racked up a 21-8 shot advantage over the course of a rather lopsided opening period. Philly was lucky to get the game to intermission down only 1-0..
A clutch defensive stop by Oskar Lindlom near the goal line kept the game scoreless early. At 4:38, Claude Giroux was tripped by Taylor Hall. Philly won the first faceoff for instant puck possession but generated no sustained pressure.
At 10:19, the dangerous Bruins' power play went to work after Giroux was whistled for tripping Brand Carlo. Later, the Bruins got a 12-second five-on-three power play. The Flyers best scoring chance of the period happened as Giroux exited th box. He went off on a shorthanded partial breakaway but couldn't find the net. Over the remaining 5-on-4 time, Jones' net was under siege.
2) The Bruins' forechecking pressure paid off with a goal at 18:25 of the first period. Curtis Lazar, the first man in on the forecheck, went to the boards with Nick Seeler and Anton Blidh claimed the puck. Nosek then finished off the play in front with a backhanded flip. Matt Grzelczyk got the secondary assist.
Overall, the Bruins doubled up the Flyers on scoring chances (6-3) and five-on-five shot attempts (60 percent). From an all-situations standpoint, the Boston territorial dominance amounted to a 65.7 percent shot attempt share and 11-5 scoring chance advantage with power play looks figured into the mix.
3) Just 30 seconds into the second period, Forbort's left point shot was accidentally tipped by the Flyers' Justin Braun and changed directions past Jones. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak got the assists. Just 52 second after play resumed, a low point shot by Ristolainen was tipped by Giroux and claimed behind the net by Cam Atkinson. Atkinson centered to Brassard, who finished off the play at the doorstep. The assist went to Atkinson and Giroux.

4) The Flyers were unable to generate a shot on goal on their first power play back in the opening period. On their second, they got only a low percentage, unscreened shot from the outside of the left circle by Giroux. They dropped to 1-for their last 25 and 7-for-49 on the season.
Ristolainen ratched up his physical game and Marchand took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 8:30. This time, the Flyers were finally able to cash in.The goal saw the puck go from Provorov (center point) to Giroux (left circle) to Brassard to the back of the net from the bottom of the right circle at 9:25 of the second period. The puck tipped off Lazar's stick on the way to Brassard.

Joel Farabee and Charlie McAvoy exchanged cross-checks and shoves and dropped the gloves at 10:32. It was a brief fight with McAvoy landing on top and Farabee sustaining an abrasion or minor cut.
At 16:26, the Bruins reclaimed the lead. It started with Boston winning a neutral zone puck battle and gaining the offensive zone.Trailer Forbort fired a rising shot from between the circles that went over to Jones. Craig Smith and Jake DeBrusk received the assists.
5) Boston restored their two-goal lead at 1:28 of the third period. Smith powered past Sanheim on the rush and beat Jones short-side over the glove.The assists went to Erik Haula and DeBrusk. That was a goal that Jones likely would want to have back. Sanheim tried to atone for getting beaten on the Smith goal and activated effectively in the offensive zone on his next shift.
With 8:06 left, Brassard was tripped up and created a must-score power play chance for Philadelphia. Right off the next faceoff, though,the Flyers were called for a faceoff violation although it was Patrice Bergeron who knocked the linesman's hand accidentally. On the ensuing 4-on-4, Pastrnak took a pass from Zboril, maneuvered wide on Jones and scored.