Postgame 5: Flyers End Jinx in Boston with 2-0 Win

The Philadelphia Flyers blanked the Boston Bruins, 2-0, at TD Garden on Tuesday evening. A combination of Samuel Ersson's sixth career shutout, 30 blocked shots in front of him and tallies by Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee (empty net) were enough to lift the Flyers to victory.

The Flyers win was their first regulation victory in Boston since October 11, 2011 on opening night of the 2011-12 regular season. Since then, the Bruins had gone 16-0-4 in 20 home games against the Flyers.

Ersson made 24 saves to earn the win. In a losing cause, Joonas Korpisalo made 17 saves on 18 shots.

The scoreless first period saw the Flyers faced with a 5-on-3 penalty killing predicament and emerge unscathed. Both teams generated several near-miss scoring chances during the period as goaltenders Samuel Ersson and Joonas Korpisalo stepped up at key moments.

Foerster (2nd goal of the season) gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 5:32 of the second period. Foerster missed an initial shot wide, Emil Andrae got the puck down low and Foerster put the puck through the five-hole from the middle slot. The assists went to Andrae (first career NHL point) and Morgan Frost. On the goal sequence, Boston was caught on a bad line change with Morgan Geekie arriving late in the D zone.

The Flyers spent much of the second period in their defensive end zone scrambling for clearing passes or stoppages. Some strong saves by Ersson and a few fortunate bounces enabled Philly to take a 1-0 lead to the second intermission.

In the third period, both teams had a power play opportunity as well as two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey. The Flyers continued to block a lot of shots and Ersson took care of the ones that got on net.

Late in regulation, the Bruins pulled Korpisalo for a 6-on-5 attack. Finally, Joel Farabee (2nd goal of the season) scored an empty net goal at 19:36 to ice the victory.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on power play. They went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, including the vital kill in the first period while two men shorthanded.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

11 Travis Konecny - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 71 Tyson Foerster
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 10 Bobby Brink
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae - 77 Erik Johnson

33 Samuel Ersson
[35 Aleksei Kolosov]

PP1: Drysdale, Tippett, Frost, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: Andrae, Foerster, Couturier, Farabee, Brink

TURNING POINT

It would still be quite a while until the Flyers broke the scoreless deadlock, but a successful 5-on-3 penalty kill is always a huge lift for a team. The Flyers defensive confidence grew as the game progressed, as did the Bruins frustration.

POSTGAME 5

1) Farabee and Brink had back-to-back excellent scoring chances on their first shift of the game and then Brink had a point blank chance. On the next shift, a Foerster turnover caused the Flyers to be hemmed in for an extended period of time. Andrae made a good defensive play to take Brad Marcnand off the puck.

2) At 5:16 of the first period, Laughton was called for a cross-checking minor. The Bruins got a 5-on-3 power play for 1:37 as Sanheim took a desperation hooking minor to prevent a Pastrnak point blank scoring chance. Ristolainen and Seeler came up with clutch blocks during the two-man killer. Later, with play at 5-on-4, Korpisalo robbed Hathaway on a 2-on-1 with Laughton. Later, Ersson made a great save on Elias Lindholm. First period shots on goal were 11-9 Boston.

3) With Drysdale down on the ice and hurting, Ersson came up with tough back-to-back saves on Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. The Flyers went on their first power play at 5:54 of the second period. The best scoring opportunity during the two minutes was a shorthanded chance for Boston. A few minutes later, Trent Frederic nearly converted a Geekie pass.

4) Around six minutes into the middle frame, Ersson scrambled to cover the post on a bouncing deflection. Frost took a high sticking penalty on Geekie at 12:56. On the ensuing power play, Pastrnak fired a one-timer wide but the Flyers were unable to clear. Johnson made a defensive stop near the side of the net. A good stick block out of play by Sanheim relieved the pressure midway through the kill. Second period shots on goal were 10-6 Boston (21-13 Bruins overall). Through two periods, the Flyers blocked 19 Boston shots (among 52 attempts, with Nick Seeler leading with four shot blocks through two periods).

5) For (at least) third time this season, Michkov attempted the "Michigan" lacrosse style shot. The Flyers went on their second power play at 3:33 of the third period as Hampus Lindholm high-sticked Hathaway. Boston came within a whisker of a shorthanded goal as Ersson finally came up with a puck that danced across the goal line after a miscommunication between Ersson and Andrae.

At 6:42, the Flyers were called for too many men on the ice. During the 4-on-4, Poehling and Cates nearly combined for a goal.