It was a long and lackadaisical night in Boston for the Philadelphia Flyers, who were massively outplayed in a miserable 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in their penultimate preseason contest of 2024.
“I thought we settled it down in the second period, but they were quicker,” said head coach John Tortorella. “They had a much higher percentage on the 50/50 pucks. We look a little tired, but I like the way we – after a first period in an away building – just settled ourselves down, try to crawl back into the game. I like some of the things there but we couldn’t sustain it.”
The Bruins dominated the Flyers for virtually the entire game, outshooting them 34-14 in the process. Had it not been for Sam Ersson’s tremendous night in goal, this game would’ve been a lot worse.
“Obviously was kind of a nice game again,” said Ersson. “Got to see a lot of pucks, so it’s a good way to kind of get into things. Because it’s preseason it’s kind of a nice game actually for me to kind of really feel things out, and I like I said, see a lot of pucks.”
Justin Brazeau opened the scoring for Boston in the first period before Travis Konecny tied things up in the second. Despite the equalizer, the Flyers couldn’t ride it into any momentum and Boston went to back to business as usual in the third with strong pressure, and Tyler Johnson scored the go-ahead goal at 7:50 of the third period. Charlie Coyle and Mark Kastelic deposited an empty-net goal each to put the Flyers away late in the game after Boston wore them out.
FIRST PERIOD
The infancy of the game saw Sean Couturier and the Flyers generate good pressure with a tough shot on Brandon Bussi, but he made the save and the Bruins were able to recover, and they began to take control of the game early on.
The Bruins rattled off 6 shots on goal in about a four-minute stretch before the Flyers began to fight back, generating some pressure before the first media timeout.
Shortly afterwards, poor coverage in front resulted in Nikita Zadorov spotting Justin Brazeau for a tap-in at the backdoor that gave Boston the first goal of the game.
The Bruins kept their foot on the gas and made life miserable for the Flyers but Sam Ersson was as sharp as a knife in the opening twenty minutes, stopping 17 of 18 shots faced.
A Bobby Brink boarding minor almost put the Flyers down two late in the period, but Ersson kept the Bruins at bay.
Philadelphia mustered only 3 shots on goal as the period came to a close.
SECOND PERIOD
The Flyers had a much better period defensively and drastically limited the Bruins’ chances compared to the first period. Boston only recorded 6 shots on net, as did the Flyers, but the Flyers did a good job at easing the pressure the Bruins were trying to apply.
After how ugly the first period was, John Tortorella mixed things up and put Travis Konecny with Matvei Michkov and Morgan Frost and it almost worked immediately.
Konecny was eventually able to tie the game at 9:44 of the second period and give the Flyers new life. Michkov was the real star of the play though, springing a shot-pass off the pads of Bussi that Konecny was able to fire home.
The Flyers had an opportunity to take the lead after David Pastrňák was sent to the box for high-sticking, but the Bruins did a good of fending off Philadelphia’s attack.
Not long after, Charlie McAvoy was sent off for cross-checking to give the Flyers another chance with the man-advantage, but the same result persisted.
The Bruins then had a power play of their own with 5:22 remaining in the middle frame as Anthony Richard was called for a ticky-tack goalie interference call even though he was pushed into Bussi. Once again, Ersson and the Flyers escaped unscathed, and the final twenty minutes would decide this game.
THIRD PERIOD
Boston turned up the heat once again and pressured the Flyers early and often with Ersson left to hold the fort.
Jett Luchanko, who has impressed the Flyers all Training Camp and preseason long, took a very ill-timed hooking penalty at 7:09 of the period, which would come back for finally bite them.
The Bruins displayed excellent movement with the puck and a spectacular series of passes led to a Tyler Johnson power play tally into a gaping net to make it 2-1 Boston.
The Flyers did their best to respond but were repeatedly smothered by the Bruins. Boston’s defense put on a clinic in this game in how they shut down the Flyers aside from a handful of plays, and the third period was a great indicator of that.
Ersson was pulled for the extra attacker with about two minutes remaining, but Charlie Coyle put away the Flyers for good with an empty-net marker with 1:25 left to play. Mark Kastelic joined the party with another empty-netter just twenty seconds later, and that’s how this game would wrap up as the Philadelphia Flyers fell at TD Garden to the Boston Bruins, 4-1.
3 STARS OF THE GAME: 1) Tyler Johnson – BOS, 2) David Pastrňák – BOS, 3) Charlie McAvoy – BOS
OBSERVATIONS
– Jett Luchanko may have played himself out of a 9-game trial opportunity. His bad penalty led to the Tyler Johnson power play goal and he didn’t really stand out when he was on the ice in this game. In prior games you could really see his vision with the puck, his physicality, and his speed. I don’t think we saw enough of that in this game. We’ll see if he survives the next round of cuts or if he gets one last crack at game action on Thursday.
– Sam Ersson looks READY to be a starting goalie this season. He went the distance and stopped 37 of 37 last Thursday against the Islanders, and tonight he stopped 30 of 32 and was arguably the best player on the ice for either team in this game. He tracked the puck well, he had fluid movement in his crease, and he made a ton of key saves that kept the Flyers in the game. It looks like Ersson is primed for a big year.
– Cam York had a quietly decent game. The Flyers were a train-wreck defensively in this game but York’s individual play was something to look positively on. York was on the ice for the power play goal from Justin Brazeau, but I’m not sure how much of that play you can really pin on him. Overall, he played well positionally in the defensive zone and made smart plays both with and away from the puck.
– Matvei Michkov is just incredible to watch. He just plays with an extra gear and is always a threat offensively when he steps on the ice. He made some great plays and picked up the primary assist on Travis Konecny’s goal in his final preseason tuneup. A full season of #39 is going to be so much fun to watch.
– Nick Seeler and Tyson Foerster both got banged up by blocked shots in the second period. Foerster returned and played his usual minutes in the third period, while Seeler took one more shift and then rested up. It’s more likely that the Flyers kept Seeler on the bench as a precaution, but losing him for any extended amount of time would be a huge blow to the blueline.
UP NEXT
The Flyers take on the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center (7:00pm, NBCSP/NHL Network) in their final game of the preseason. Expect a lineup mostly made up of Phantoms and prospects.
