RECAP
In their next-to-last preseason game in North America, Alain Vigneault's Flyers fell 4-3 in overtime to Bruce Cassidy's Boston Bruins. The Flyers dropped to 1-2-2 on the exhibition season, while Boston improve to 2-0-2
Travis Konecny (1st), Carsen Twarynski (2nd) and Connor Bunnaman (power play, 1st) scored for the Flyers. Jakub Lauko (1st), Brad Marchand (1st) and Chris Wagner (1st) scored in overtime for the Bruins before Jake DeBrusk (power play, 1st) tallied in sudden death.
Brian Elliott went the distance in net for the Flyers, stopping 18 of 22 shots. For Boston, Tuukka Rask played the first two periods and made 16 saves on 17 shots. Dan Vladar played the third period and OT, making 14 saves on 16 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the PK, including a successful 5-on-3 kill. The game-winner for Boston was scored at 4-on-3.
The Flyers outplayed Boston for much of the final 35 minutes of regulation after the Bruins had the better of the early play. A couple of "big breakdown" miscues that led to point-blank goals and a pedestrian night in net for Elliott undid a lot of good work otherwise.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
1ST PERIOD
* The Flyers had a potential 2-on-1 counteratttack early but Connor Bunnaman's pass for Nicolas Aube-Kubel was slightly out of reach.
* At 3:21, Brian Elliott accidentally played the puck over the glass and took an automatic delay of game penalty. Elliott stopped a tough deflection off the stick of Jake DeBrusk. Sean Couturier got some help to finesse a clear over the blue line after he tied up his man near the blueline.
* Boston got a 21-second two-man advantage as Carsen Twarynski was called for high-sticking. The Flyers got two clears -- starting with Kevin Hayes winning the draw against David Pastrnak by forcing the puck up ice with quick hand s -- killed off the first end with no problem. Kevin Hayes had a potential shorthanded chance during the 5-on-4 portion of the kill but was broken up by Urho Vaakanainen as he pulled the puck to his backhand. The Flyers killed off the rest to go 14-for-14 on the preseason. Some solid PKing work by German Rubtsov was notable as well.
* Sean Couturier had a chance from the left circle moments after even strength play resumed.
* Shayne Gostisbehere picked off an errant pass and, with skating room, led a counter attacking rush.
* Mark Friedman wiped out along the wall, and 19-year-old Jakub Lauko scored high to the short-side from from a tough angle at 9:32. David Backes and Josiah Diddier got the assists.
* The Flyers knotted the game at 1-1 at the 12:44 mark. Couturier pressured the puck down low along the boards on the forecheck. Behind the net, the Bruins gained possession but turned the puck over to directly van Riemsdyk. A quick tape-to-tape pass out later to an open Konecny at the doorstep, and it was a tie game after Konecny deposited the puck past Rask. JVR got the lone assist but Couturier also had a lot to do with it.
* A late potential 2-on-1 rush for Konecny and van Riemsdyk was broken up by Alex Petrovic.
* First period shots were 10-7 in Boston's favor, with most of the edge coming in the first half of the period.
2ND PERIOD
* A succession of odd-man rushes ended with Boston making it 2-1 at 1:03. The first Bruins rush was well defended by Sanheim. The Flyers then had a 2-on-1 between and JVR. Rask made the save. Then the Bruins had a 2-on-1 and Marchand with the slam dunk off the Pastrnak feed. Sanheim was caught up ice, Myers went to Pastrnak. Once the past went across, Elliott had no chance.
* A good backchecking play by Scott Laughton and some forechecking pressure by Oskar Lindblom and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were among the better Philadelphia plays as the period moved to the middle stages. Despite a shot edge for the Flyers, Boston seemed to have the more dangerous chances in the initial half of the period.
* A shot off the rush by Connor Bunnaman from the right circle after gloving down a pass from Kevin Hayes was denied by Rask with 4:23 left.
* Late in the period, Aube-Kubel created a great chance for Andy Andreoff and Lindblom, after missing an attempted pass to Couturier, had a chance in front.
* Second period shots were 10-5 in Philly's favor.
3RD PERIOD
* Some good defense by Phil Myers on Brad Marchand in front prevented a potential scoring chance as there was no room for Pastrnak to make a play to him.
* A developing 2-on-1 rush for Hayes and JVR got broken up.
* The Flyers knotted the game at 2-2 at 4:42. There was a scramble in front off a Braun point shot and Twarynski cleans up the garbage in front. Great work by Laughton to dig puck loose from the paint. Laughton and Chris Stewart, who also got a touch, picked up the assists.
* The Flyers finally got their first power play at the 6:00 mark. They cashed in on a lucky play 46 seconds later. After coming away with the puck from a battle along the walls, Bunnaman attempted to pass it across. Instead it deflected off the stick of defender Trent Frederic and into the net past Vladar.
* Philly showed good team D for the next 10 minutes, severely limiting Boston's time and space to make plays.Rubtsov had been pretty quiet since the first period PK stretch but notably strung together a couple straight strong two-way shifts.
* Boston tied the game at 3-3 with 1:46 left. Wagner scored off a Sean Kuraly pass. On the sequence, Myers tried to bat ahead an aerial puck, but it fell instead where it got past him. Sanheim then went all the way over to his partner's s/ide to try to help. The slot on Sanheim's original left-D side was left wide open.
* Pastrnak was denied by Elliott on a great chance near the buzzer set up by Marchard.
* Third period shots were 14-5 in Philly's favor.
OVERTIME
* A good stick check by Gostisbehere broke up a developing play in the Flyers end. Moments later, Hayes was denied on breakaway and a follow-up attempt. Hayes barked for a penalty on Wagner but didn't get one. He followed after the Bruin, grabbing him along the boards behind the play. At 1:12, Hayes was called for holding Wagner and Bruins got a 4-on-3 power play.
* The Bruins won the game on at 2:35 of OT. On a scramble around the net, Ellliott tried to reel in the puck in the paint after DeBrusk jabbed at it. The puck trickled slowly between the goalie's pads and over the goal line right about the same time that the whistle blew. Assists went to Marchand and Pastrnak. The puck was in continuous motion as it trickled through Elliott's pads, so it was ultimately the correct call to allow the goal.
* OT shots were 2-2.