POSTGAME 5: Bruins Blitz Flyers, 6-0
The Boston Bruins bested the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-0, in an MLK Day Matinee at TD Garden on Monday
Boston out-forechecked, out-defended, and were far more opportunistic than Philadelphia. The Bruins were the better team at 5-on-5, 4-on-4, and on both ends of special teams. Boston also won 38 of 60 faceoffs (63 percent).
On this day, Boston got the better goaltending when needed. Only during garbage time in the latter third period -- with the Bruins ahead by six -- did the Flyers find operating space. Even then, Philly was unable to score.
The Bruins, who now sport a 20-0-0 record when leading after the first period, took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission on goals by David Pastrnak (34th) at 4:38 and Pavel Zacha (6th) at 15:05. Playing in his 1,000th career NHL regular season game, David Krejci assisted on both of the Bruins' first period goals.
The Bruins doubled their lead to 4-0 in the second period. Brad Marchand made it 3-0 at 3:55 and Zacha (2nd of the game, 7th of the season) was credited with a goal that went in off defenseman Nick Seeler at 4:41. Krejci got his third assist of the game on the latter goal.
In the opening minute of the third period, Pastrnak (second of the game, 35th of the season) tallied a power play goal that created a 5-0 lead. Matt Grzelczyk (3rd) added further insult to injury with a 4-on-4 goal at 8:04.
Carter Hart was pulled 27:35 into the game. He yielded four goals on 17 shots. Samuel Ersson entered in relief. In 32:25 in net, Ersson saw 13 shots and stopped 11. Among the six goals Boston scored, two (Boston's second and sixth goals) were arguably stoppable. Even those were good shots.
Jeremy Swayman recorded a 29-save shutout for the Bruins. Philly made him work a bit for the shutout in the latter third period but there were long stretches before that where he wasn't tested much.
The Flyers went 0-for-6 on the power play. The Bruins were 2-for-4.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
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]
TURNING POINT
Philly got off to a good start in the first four minutes of the game. But then they made the kind of error they could ill-afford -- turning the puck over near their own blueline with a chance to exit the zone -- and Pastnak made it 1-0.
The Flyers' response was just OK but the Bruins were in full control by the time Zacha fired home a shot from above the right circle to make it 2-0. Boston is the hardest team in the NHL against whom to try to chase a game.
This game was no exception. Once Boston had control, it kept building and building into a blowout.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The game started with the Noah Cates line keeping the Bruins occupied in their defensive zone (Krejci line) during the opening shift. The game's first shot on goal was a simple neutral zone shoot-in by Hayes at 1:27.
Hart saw his first shot at 3:21. Provorov turned over the puck to Pastrnak in the neutral zone. Pastrnak sent Pavel Zacha in on Hart, who stopped the backhand attempt. Philly had three of the game's first four shots on net.
Boston took a 1-0 lead at 4:38. DeAngelo was unable to get the puck out at the defensive blueline. Krejci took control. Zacha then saucered a pass to Pastrnak, who scored from the doorstep.
Allison had a point blank chance on the next shift. From behind the net, Hayes centered a pass to Allison in the low slot. Swayman made the save.
JVR tried a little toe-drag move off an entry pass from Frost. The Bruins iced the puck at 7:18. At 7:46, after a giveaway by Charlie McAvoy near his own blueline, Cates had a chance in close but was blocked by Matt Grzelcyk.
Hart denied a bang-bang chance for Pastrnak off a faceoff win by Krejci against Laughton. Shots were 6-5 Bruins through 8:58 as a Bergeron shot from center slot was blocked out of play.
Hart got tripped behind the Flyers net by A.J. Greer. The Flyers got the game's first power play at 9:48. The Laughton PP unit was unable to generate any entries. The Hayes unit got set up but created no bonafide chances. A look for Cates in the middle slot was blocked by Derek Forbort.
With play back at 5-on-5, Deslauriers challenged Greer to a fight. Greer skated away. With 6:27 remaining in the period, DeAngelo fired off a point shot attempt that sailed over the glass.
The Bruins won 12 of the game's first 14 faceoffs. The won another on the next dra with Charlie Coyle beating Frost in the Flyers offensive right circle. Later on the shift, Tippett put a routine shot on net.
Boston made it 2-0 at 15:05. Zacha skated near the right circle, took a pass from Krejci and one-timed a rising shot that beat Hart off the far side post and into the net. Krejci and Lindholm drew the assists.
Shortly thereafter, Taylor Hall had a blueline-in breakaway against Hart. The Flyers goalie made the stop.
With 3:10 remaining, Provorov set up a chance for Laughton from below the hash marks. Boston iced the puck at 17:22. The Bruins won the draw. Pastrnak broke out of the zone but Sanheim foiled a would-be headman pass (for a potential breakaway) with his skate.
Hart denied back-to-back scoring chances in close by Charlie Coyle. The Flyers had the period's last entry attempt but were broken up at the blue line.
2) First period shots on goal were fairly even at 11-9 Boston (19-19 tie in shot attempts) but the flow of play was significantly in the Bruins' favor even apart from their 2-0 lead on the scoreboard. The first four minutes or so of the game were legitimately pretty even. The rest belonged to Boston.
The most telling indicator: a 7-1 high-danger scoring chance edge for the Bruins (13-9 Bruins in overall scoring chances). The Bruins also owned the faceoff circle, winning 16 of 21 draws. Laughton (2-for-9), Frost (0-for-4) and Cates (2-for-6) went a combined 4-for-19.
3) Forty-one seconds in the second period, after a clean breakout started by DeAngelo and Konecny, Cates fired off a side angle shot on Swayman. The shot created a fat rebound in front.
Foligno attempted an uncontested wraparound but the Flyers had good coverage in front of the net and Hart covered for a stoppage at 3:10.
The Bruins opened a 3-0 lead at 3:55. Bergeron went to work against York and passed back to the point. Marchand attacked the net, collected the loose puck and scored as he spun around to his backhand. Grzelczyk got an assist.
Boston again quickly, this time at 4:41. It started with a turnover by Seeler on a pass into the neutral zone. One again the Bruins created space for themselves in the Philly zone. An attempted pass by Zacha went off Seeler's skate and deflected into the net. Kreji earned his third assist of the game.
At 5:15, Hall was called for a stick slashing penalty. The Flyers generated decent offensive zone time but, once again, no shots on goal.
With 12:25 left in the second period, Hart was pulled from the net. Ersson came in.The first shot he faced was by Lindholm from the right hash marks. Subsequently, Pastnak blasted a shot wide of the net. Ersson was subsequently tested by McAvoy.
Tortorella began to juggle line combinations. He put Hayes out to center Tippett and Konecny. Frost centered van Riemsdyk and Farabee. Cates was with Laughton and Allison. Further juggling took place on subsequent shifts.
Tippett seemed to have an open shooting lane but it disappeared almost as soon as it opened, and his attempt was blocked. Second period shots on goal were 8-7 Bruins when Ristolainen blocked a Coyle shot with exactly three minutes left on the clock.
Konecny tried to go 1-on-2 on a rush attempt but was quickly taken off the puck. He jostled and exchanged shots with Foligno. Coincidental minors were called at 18:33 On the ensuing 4-on-4, Pastrnak stripped Frost of the puck near the Philadelphia blueline and started to move in on Ersson. Frost was called for hooking on the backcheck attempt. Boston went to a 4-on-3 power play.
Boston took 1:13 of carryover 4-on-3 power play time into the third period. Frost had 54 seconds left on his penalty.
4) The second period, much like the first, was very much under the Bruins' control. Shots on goal were 11-7 Bruins (25-13 in shot attempts). Scoring chances were 15-10 Bruins; 8-5 high-danger edge to Boston. The Bruins won 11 of 20 faceoffs in the second period (27-14 overall edge to the Bruins through two periods).
5) On the carryover power play, Krejci was denied by a tough save by Ersson. The Flyers failed to clear on Provorov's clearing attempt was intercepted by McAvoy. Marchand attempted to feed Krejci again in the middle slot but the puck went instead to Pastrnak. From the left circle, Pastrnak fired the puck home for a 5-on-4 power play goal at the 36-second mark.
The Bruins continued to have easy breakouts as the Flyers were unable to set up a forecheck.
At 2:29, Carlo was called for cross-checking Patrick Brown in the back.The Flyers generated only a harmless unscreened point shot from York late in the power play.
At 4:57, MacEwen skated across the slot and deflected a puck on net. Swayman got first to the rebound. A scrum broke out after the whistle. MacEwen received a double minor for roughing, while Lindholm got a two-minute minor
During the ensuing kill, Konecny slid into the end boards. He got up slowly and went back to the bench. Cates hit the post with a shot. A Pastrnak shot attempt was blocked by Ristolainen. The Flyers killed off the penalty.
Greer hit DeAngelo in the right corner in the Flyers' zone. Deslauriers made a beeline for the Boston forward. Deslauriers and Greer both received assists.
On the ensuing 4-on-4, Boston scored to make it 4-on-4. McAvoy made a cross-ice pass to defense partner. Grzelczyk, who fired home a shot inside the post to Ersson's blocker side at 8:04. Pastrnak received a secondary assist for his third point of the game.
With play still at 4-on-4, Frost had an open look from the right hash marks but fired wide of the net. At 9:10, with play back at 5-on-5, Frost deflected a puck on net from close range. Swayman made his 21st save of the game.
At 14:24, Connor Clifton grabbed hold of Tippett behind the Boston net. The Flyers went back to the power play. At 14:45, Bergeron attempted to lift Frost's stick, catching him in the face and drawing blood. He received a four-minute penalty. The Flyers had a 5-on-3.
A DeAngelo shot attempt was blocked. Hayes bobbled a puck away on an entry. A Konecy one-timer from the top of the left circle missed the net. A Hayes shot was blocked. Play moved to 5-on-4. McAvoy cleared the puck.
Lindholm failed a clearing attempt. A Tippett blast from high in the offensive zone was stopped and held by Swayman. JVR fumbled a puck late in the power play and Forbort cleared it down the ice. The Bergeron penalty expired.
With 42.1 seconds left, Bergeron had a look from the lower slot. Ersson stopped it. Tippett had the game's final shot, getting denied from the left circle by Swayman.
Third period shots on goal were 13-7 Flyers, but much of it came in garbage time and during the Flyers' failed 5-on-3/5-on-4. Scoring chances were 13-6 Flyers (4-2 high danger edge to Philly). All that ultimately mattered was two more goals in the cash register for Boston and a lot of frustration for the Flyers.
