After a hard-fought game on Thursday that saw them lose to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Philadelphia Flyers (12-11-3, 5th Metropolitan) are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they take on the Boston Bruins (14-11-3, 3rd Atlantic).
The Flyers trailed the Florida Panthers by a 3-0 margin at one point before storming back to tie the game and they eventually took a 5-4 lead in the third period. The Panthers would go on to recover and use a late rally to retake the lead for good and prevent the comeback from being completed, aided by four total power play goals – two of which made up the sixth and empty-net seventh goals.
“I loved our ability to stay with it and find a way,” said assistant coach Brad Shaw postgame. “You take that game and get it to 5-4, that’s a great sign. The fact we don’t finish it off, that’s something we have to work on and that’s part of being a team that’s not quite down the path as far as we’d like to be as a group.”
Saturday’s contest is already the third and final meeting of the season between the Flyers and Bruins. On October 29th, the Flyers entered TD Garden and defeated the Bruins 2-0 behind a 25-save performance from Sam Ersson and goals from Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee. Boston responded on November 2nd with a 3-0 shutout at Wells Fargo Center thanks to Joonas Korpisalo’s 20 saves and tallies from Matt Poitras, Justin Brazeau, and Brad Marchand.
Scouting the Bruins
Things have changed a bit since the last time these teams faced off. The Bruins’ poor 8-9-3 start to the season resulted in former Flyer Jim Montgomery being relieved of his head coaching duties, only to be scooped up by the St. Louis Blues just five days later. Since firing Montgomery and hiring Joe Sacco in the interim on November 19th, Boston has gone 6-2-0 and are scoring 2.87 goals per game in that stretch, compared to the 2.40 goals per game in the previous 20 games under Montgomery. Their team defense and goaltending have massively improved in their last 8 games as well. Under Montgomery, the Bruins were giving up 3.45 goals per game to their opponents, but in Sacco’s eight games that number has fallen to a minuscule 1.87.
Leading the way for the Bruins are the usual suspects. Superstar forward David Pastrňák leads the club in assists (17) and points (26), while Brad Marchand paces the club in goals with 10. While starting goalie Jeremy Swayman’s stats seem meager at first glance with an 8-9-2 record, .893 SV%, and 3.03 GAA, his numbers have taken an upturn under Sacco. Since the coaching change, Swayman is 3-2-0 with a .925 SV% and 1.82 GAA; his peripherals were .884 SV% and 3.47 GAA under Montgomery.
Simply put, these Bruins are not the same ones the Flyers took on five weeks ago.
Flyers Looking To Stay on Track
The Flyers, meanwhile, are also on the upswing despite their recent loss. Philadelphia is 6-3-1 over their last 10 games and since their six-game losing streak in October, they’re 11-6-2.
The Flyers have quietly moved back into Wild Card contention over the last couple weeks, flip-flopping position between the inside and outside by the day with the Rangers and Lightning. Of course, it may be a little early to start thinking about the playoff race, but this Flyers team is showing similar signs to last year’s club. They do not quit when their backs are against the wall and will fight until the very end in every single game, which has resulted in valuable standings points.
Owen Tippett has been one of the most noticeable Flyers on the ice recently and is really turning things around for himself. The 25-year-old has scored in back-to-back games, highlighted by his two goals in 23 seconds against Florida on Thursday, and has recorded points in three of his last five games. Philadelphia will need him to produce more consistently but it seems as if he’s on the right track.
Matvei Michkov has been cooking as usual for the Flyers. The rookie phenom posted his first career three-point outing – all assists – on Thursday and has seven points in his last six games. Michkov leads all NHL rookies in goals (9), points (22), power play goals (5), and power play points (10) entering Saturday’s contest. Expect more dazzling plays from the Russian in Boston.
Another dangerous Flyer to watch for is Travis Konecny. Konecny saw his five-game point streak (2g, 5a) snapped on Thursday and had a tough outing overall, but he is still on pace for 41 goals and 54 assists for 95 points. Konecny has historically been about average against the Bruins, posting 16 points (8g, 8a) in 30 career games against Boston, and he has not recorded a point against them this season. He did however post three points (2g, 1a) against the Bruins last season, so there’s a solid possibility #11 could find himself on the scoresheet today.
When: 12/7/24, 1:00pm ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NHL Network, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 12/5/24, 7-5 L vs. Florida
Last Game BOS: 12/4/24, 4-2 W at Chicago
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#21 Scott Laughton – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#36 Emil Andrae – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #5 Egor Zamula
#35 Aleksei Kolosov
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
BOS Projected Lineup
#63 Brad Marchand – #28 Elias Lindholm – #88 David Pastrňák
#39 Morgan Geekie – #18 Pavel Zacha – #55 Justin Brazeau
#11 Trent Frederic – #13 Charlie Coyle – #47 Mark Kastelic
#45 Cole Koepke – #19 John Beecher – #26 Marc McLaughlin
#82 Jordan Oesterle – #73 Charlie McAvoy
#91 Nikita Zadorov – #25 Brandon Carlo
#6 Mason Lohrei – #52 Andrew Peeke
#1 Jeremy Swayman
(#70 Joonas Korpisalo)
News and Notes
– The Flyers placed Nicolas Deslauriers on IR retroactive to November 9th and he is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Head coach John Tortorella said that Deslauriers tweaked something while taking a shot. Sam Ersson and Jamie Drysdale both remain on IR and are day-to-day as well.
– Regular season: The last time the Flyers won two consecutive games in Boston was January 31st, 2019 and November 10th, 2019. The last time the Flyers won two games in the same season in Boston was February 7th, 2009 and March 3rd, 2009.
– Captain Sean Couturier leads all active Flyers in career goals (9), assists (10), and points (19) against the Bruins. Rasmus Ristolainen leads all active Flyers in games played (40) against Boston stemming from his days as a divisional rival in Buffalo.
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