Welcome to the TD Garden for today's St. Patrick's Day tilt between the Boston Bruins and visiting Philadelphia Flyers...

This is not where the Boston Bruins expected to see themselves in the middle of March. Bumped from the top of the Northeast Division for the first time in what seems like ages thanks to the Ottawa Senators victory last night, it won't get an easier for the slumping Bruins as they play host to the white-hot Flyers in the Hub.

While the Bruins come into today's game lodged in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, they're coming into play against a Philly club that's reaping the benefits of Ilya Bryzgalov finding his head. A perfect 7-0-0 in his last seven starts, Bryzard of Oz has posted a 0.99 goals-against-average over that stretch, and is 1-0-0 in Boston as a Flyer.

The Bruins will counter with Tim Thomas, who stopped just 23 of 29 shots in his last outing.

On a note for Boston, for the first time this year, Joe Corvo will be a healthy scratch. Long overdue, if you ask most. In his place, Boston will dress Greg Zanon.

First Period

19:00 - Oh man, Braydon Coburn gets it started early, just pastes David Krejci at the blue-line. Nice hit from No. 5 in white.

18:06 - Gregory Campbell and Zac Rinaldo have a go. Pretty even scrap for the most part, but Rinaldo just unloads on Campbell at the end. Decision to Rinaldo, big time.

16:30 - Scott Hartnell gets hit along the boards by Adam McQuaid. He doesn't like it, has some words for McQuaid, and then both Hartnell and Zdeno Chara trade some slashes. That's typical when it comes to 19 vs. 33. These two do not like each other.

16:06 - Physical start. Crowd likes it.

13:37 - Boom. Machine Gun Kelly is there for a rebound, and it's 1-0 in favor of Boston. That'll be Chris Kelly's 17th of the year, and Boston's scored first? Seems unheard of.

13:37 - That also gives Brian Rolston three points in his last four periods of play.

9:23 - Flyers going on the power-play for the first time today, Jordan Caron's going off.

8:30 - Great shorthanded look for Patrice Bergeron, but Bryzgalov keeps it out on the second chance look. He's looked real solid thus far, seeing the puck real well.

8:02 - Jagr off for hooking Chara.


5:50 - Holy goodness, what a stop by Thomas on a Jagr-out-of-the-box breakaway.

5:36 - Chara to the box. Tripping is the call against Big Z. Not a good time for a Boston penalty. Flyers are surging right now.

2:53 - Tyler Seguin on the doorstep, and that's No. 25. Great feed from Bergeron, and the Bruins have a 2-0 lead.

0.0 - Bruins leave the ice to a standing ovation from the crowd. They've been longing for something to cheer about, and this first period brought 'em enough.

Thoughts after 20...

The Bruins are playing with fire when it comes to taking ruts to the sin-bin, but Thomas has been sharp. Real sharp. This is kind of crispness the Bruins need from him if they're going to compete with a Flyers club that's giving up almost nothin'.

On another note, I can't help but feel that Marchand's going to score in this one. Dude's been buzzing.

Second Period

18:11 - Boston going on the power-play.

15:52 - Hey, that came out of nowhere. Johnny Boychuk and Max Talbot drop the gloves, but it doesn't last long. Boychuk hits Talbot with a few shots before Talbot falls down. Not sure if he just lost his balance there.

12:43 - Seguin off to the box. Claude Julien is just shaking his head in disapproval on the Boston bench. Slashing is the call.

10:44 - With just a second remaining in the power-play, the Flyers strike! Danny Briere shots it, and Matt Reads gets the tip. That goal gives Read 20 on the year, tying him with Gabriel Landeskog for the rooking lead.

4:54 - Flyers are really controlling the pace of play in the second frame. Lots of chances, relentless on the puck. B's need Thomas to be great.

0.0 - Period draws to a close in a quiet TD Garden. People need more beer?

Thoughts after 40...

This is a statement game for the Bruins. I think that's pretty much undeniable, but how do they respond in the final frame? The Flyers responded -- big time, in fact -- in the second period and made this a one-goal game. Bryzgalov's been good, but like I said, the Bruins are going to need Thomas to be great.

Third Period

14:00 - Stalemate at both ends. Tight checking game.

8:56 - First power-play of the period for the Flyers. Shawn Thornton's going off for goaltender interference. He's livid. Looked like he tried to avoid Bryzgalov by all means necessary, but hey, I never know what to expect with these calls anymore.

4:17 - Sick tip, absolutely sick tip. Jakub Voracek redirects a Coburn shot, and we have a tie game.

4:00 - That goal drew a serious amount of applause. The fans from Philly definitely had their say today.

2:16 - Bryzgalov with some serious confidence right now.

0.0 - Holy cow, the Bruins survive a late Flyers flurry, and we have overtime on the way.

Overtime

5:00 - B's start the overtime with Bergeron and Marchand. They've had some great looks today.

1:32 - Chara with a great chance but it goes wide. 3-on-2 for Boston -- not going to much better than that.

0.0 - Shootout on the way.

Shootout

Round One: Krejci shooting for Boston. Goal.
Read for Philly. Goal.

Round Two: Seguin for Boston. Goal.
Giroux for Philly. Goal.

Round Three: Bergeron for Boston. Goal.
Briere gets denied by Thomas, B's end the skid.

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