POSTGAME 5: Rockin Robin

1. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED

In the first game of a three-game round robin for playoff seeding, the Flyers the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

A pair of goals by the Flyers' fourth line broke a scoreless deadlock in the second period. Michael Raffl put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at the 5:33 mark and Nate Thompson made it 2-0 at 9:31. After Chris Wagner cut the gap to 2-1 late, Phil Myers restored a two-goal lead just eight seconds later. Scott Laughton added further insurance, making it 4-1 at 4:07 of the third period.

Carter Hart was outstanding in net, especially in turning back 12 shots in the first period. He stopped 34 of 35 shots to earn his first NHL postseason win. Jaroslav Halak stopped 25 of 29 shots in the loss for Boston.

2. TURNING POINT

The Flyers' first penalty kill was a stabilizer for the team in the opening period, along with Hart's stellar goaltending, but the big turning point was the two-way play of the Flyers' top two defense pairs and their fourth forward line. Travis Sanheim and Ivan Provorov made the first two Philly goals possible while Phil Myers scored the third.

3. MELTZER'S TAKE

* The top Flyers line and defense pair went head-to-head with Boston's top line and D-pair to start the game. After a feeling-out process by both teams, the Bruins started to take over the first period (5 of the first 6 shots, 10 of the first 14 shots). A strong Flyers kill of the game's first penalty was a stabilizer, along with Carter Hart's play in goal.

* A great scoring chance for Scott Laughton off a great pass out of the corner created the Flyers' first power play opportunity. Unfortunately for Philly, Claude Giroux hit the post on a scorching one-timer off a Jakub Voracek feed. The Flyers struggled to get the puck moving up ice in the remaining time. First period shots were 12-6 Boston (attempts 23-15 in Boston's favor).

* Travis Sanheim made a nice keep at the attacking blueline and then a perfect pass to Raffl to set up the scoring chance that resulted in the game's first goal. The veteran Austrian winger went upstairs on Halak for the goal... In the third, Raffl needed help up the tunnel after his foot or ankle went awkwardly into the boards on a hit by Lauzon. The hit looked close to the borderline of a slew foot.

* Wagner's goal was an unlucky one for the Flyers, as his short-side attempt with the near post sealed off went off Robert Hägg's skate and re-directed into the other side of the net. Myers got the goal right back with a scorching bar-down shot from the top of the circle. The Flyers' faceoff edge through two periods (53% overall) came largely from Thompson (3-for-4) and Derek Grant (4-for-5) going a combined 7-for-9.

* Laughton was an unsung hero for the Flyers on both sides of the puck in the first and second periods, and get onto the scoresheet in the third as Philly grabbed a 4-1 lead. Kevin Hayes won a battle in the neutral zone and passed to Laughton. From just above and inside the left faceoff dot, Laughton wired a shot over Halak's glove.

4. STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

* Scott Laughton has goals in two straight and, including the end of the regular season, has posted 11 points in his last 10 games (5g-6a).

* The Flyers defense has factored into five of the seven Flyers goals scored thus far, and have posted five points (1g-4a).

* The D-pairing of Philippe Myers and Travis Sanheim were a +3 today.

* Nate Thompson scored his first goal as a Flyer... Myers scored his first career playoff goal and led the team with five shots.

* Michael Raffl led the way with two points (1g-1a)... Its the most points he had in a playoff game in his career... Prior to today, he posted three points (1g-2a) in 19 playoff games.

* Derek Grant was 73.0% on face-offs, Tyler Pitlick led the team with four hits and Ivan Provorov led all players in the game with 24:51 of TOI.

* The two remaining Round Robin games for the Flyers are the Washington Capitals (Thu., Aug. 6) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (Sat., Aug. 8).