Game 10 Preview: Flyers @ Bruins
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (4-5-0) are in Beantown on Thursday evening to take on Bruce Cassidy's Boston Bruins (5-2-2). Game time at TD Garden is 7 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSNP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at
FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the teams. The clubs will rematch on Jan. 16 at the Wells Fargo Center and on Jan. 31 back in Boston. Last season, the Flyers went 1-2-0 against the Bruins.
The Flyers have had very little success in Boston in recent years. The team is 2-6-2 in its last 10 road games in Boston. The last win was a 5-4 overtime victory on Oct. 21, 2015, decided by a Claude Giroux power play with a 4-on-3 man advantage.
The Flyers last regulation win in Boston was on opening night of the 2011-12 season (Oct. 6, 2011). A debuting Ilya Bryzgalov outdueled reigning Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe winner and made first-period goals by Giroux and Jakub Voracek stand up for a 2-1 victory. On that night, rookie Sean Couturier made his NHL debut, and Voracek and Wayne Simmonds each played in their first regular season game as Flyers.
Flyers Outlook
Coming off an impressive all-around performance in a 5-2 home win over the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers fell back on Monday into their too-familiar pattern of a slow start followed by a too-little-too-late surge, and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Colorado Avalanche. A deflection goal by Nolan Patrick (2nd) off a Travis Sanheim shot/pass was Philly's lone tally.
Over the last two games, the Flyers have gone just 2-for-5 on the penalty kill. The power play is in a 1-for-14 spell, although it has only been in the last couple games that the first-unit group has struggled to produce scoring opportunities. The second unit has received extended time in the last two games, and Travis Konecny scored a PPG in the New Jersey game.
The Flyers had an opportunity to hold back-to-back practices in Voorhees on Tuesday (an optional, in which Giroux and Patrick sat out due to minor illness) and Wednesday. During the
Wednesday practice session, the Flyers rolled out some forward line combination changes. The defensive pairs from the last two games held, meaning Andrew MacDonald will likely be scratched for the fourth straight game.
Konecny (two goals, three assists) moved back onto the Flyers top line with Sean Couturier (three goals, zero assists) and Claude Giroux (three goals, eight assists). Scott Laughton (four goals, one assist) skated on left wing with Patrick (two goals, zero assists) and team-leading scorer Voracek (three goals, nine assists).
With Michael Raffl (lower-body injury sustained on Monday) out for four to six weeks, veteran Corban Knight (one game played) moves into the starting lineup. After three games as a healthy scratch, rookie Mikhail Vorobyev (one goal, one assist) is set to rejoin the lineup as the third-line center.
At Wednesday's practice, second-year pro Oskar Lindblom (two goals, zero assists) shared third-line left wing reps with Jordan Weal (six games played, one goal, two assists) but Weal also practiced with the second power play unit. Officially, Hakstol said he has not made up his mind yet about which player will be a healthy scratch in Boston. Weal has gotten into penalty trouble in recent games (five minor penalties, four of which created opposing power plays via stick infractions). Lindblom's ice time on Monday was dropped to 8:40.
Veteran goaltender Michal Neuvirth (lower-body injury) was activated from IR on Wednesday and made a rehab-assignment start for the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He stopped 31 of 34 shots and looked sharp overall to earn the win in a 7-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Neuvirth told reporters after the game that he would be joining the Flyers in Boston. In order to activate Neuvirth, the Flyers can place Raffl on injured reserve. In so doing, they'd at least temporarily have three goaltenders on the active roster.
Bruins Outlook
The Bruins are undefeated so far on home ice, winning each of their first three games. The club enters this game coming off a 4-1 road win over the Ottawa Senators.
A meeting with the Bruins means going up against one of the top forward lines in the NHL: the trio of perennial Selke Trophy candidate Patrice Bergeron (seven goals, 16 points), the dynamically skilled and speedy but ultra-irritating Brad Marchand (two goals, 11 assists) and the sharp-shooting David Pastrnak (10 goals, 15 points). Another longtime Flyer-killer, veteran center David Krejci (eight points), anchors the second line.
Second-year pros Jake DeBrusk (two goals) and Ryan Donato (one goal, eight games) showed promise last season. Both are off to relatively slow offensive starts this season.
Fast-rising star defenseman Charlie McAvoy has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury. Taking his spot partnered with the ageless Zdeno Chara has been Brandon Carlo, who logged over 28 minutes of ice time in the Ottawa game.
Even apart from McAvoy, the Bruins' blueline is banged up right now. Veterans Torey Krug (IR, ankle) and Kevan Miller (hand) are also out of the lineup. Rookie defenseman Urho Vaakanainen suffered a concussion in the Ottawa game after being elbowed by Mark Borowiecki. The NHL suspended Borowiecki for one game. Unless McAvoy or Miller can return now, the Bruins will have to make a callup from Providence.
Veteran forward David Backes is under the weather. Officially, he is questionable to play.
Through the first nine games of the season, the Bruins have scored at a 3.44 goals per game clip (tied for 9th leaguewide) and carry a team 2.67 goals against average (also 9th). The Flyers come in averaging 3.33 goals per game (12th) but yielding a 4.11 GAA (30th). Of particular note to watch in Thursday's game: the Boston power play is red-hot to start the season, clicking so far at (an unsustainable) 29.7 percent. The Bruins penalty kill checks in at 75 percent thus far, while the Flyers' PK fell to 68.6 percent after the Colorado game.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom - 40 Jordan Weal - 17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise - 15 Jori Lehterä - 10 Corban Knight
9 Ivan Provorov - 8 Robert Hägg
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 47 Andrew MacDonald
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 24 Mikhail Vorobyev (healthy), 26 Christian Folin (healthy), 33 Cal Pickard (healthy), 12 Michael Raffl (IR, lower body), 25 James van Riemsdyk (IR, lower body), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
BRUINS
63 Brad Marchand - 37 Patrice Bergeron - 88 David Pastrnak
43 Danton Heinen - 46 David Krejci - 74 Jake DeBrusk
10 Anders Bjork - 20 Joakim Nordstrom - 14 Chris Wagner
17 Ryan Donato - 52 Sean Kuraly - 55 Noel Acciari
33 Zdeno Chara - 25 Brandon Carlo
27 John Moore - 44 Steve Kampfer
48 Matt Grzelcyk - 23 Jeremy Lauzon
1 Jaroslav Halak
[40 Tuukka Rask]
Scratches: 42 David Backes (illness), 73 Charlie McAvoy (undisclosed), 86 Kevan Miller (hand),
47 Torey Krug (IR, ankle), 58 Urho Vaakanainen (concussion).
**********
Phantoms Tear up Wolf Pack, 7-3
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-2-1) scored three goals in the opening 4:36 of the game and went on to defeat the host Hartford Wolf Pack (4-4-1) by a 7-3 score at the XL Center in Hartford on Wednesday night. The game was Lehigh Valley's third in a season-high six-game road trip.
Michal Neuvirth, activated from injured reserve by the Flyers on Wednesday morning and immediately assigned to the Phantoms on a rehab conditioning assignment, made the start in goal for Lehigh Valley. He was sharp and on top of his angles, aided by a 5-0 lead before Hartford scored for the first time. Overall, he stopped 31 of 34 shots to earn the win. Neuvirth will join the Flyers in Boston on Thursday.
Veteran Chris Conner notched power play an even strength goals (2nd and 3rd) during the Phantoms' four-goal first period. Rookie center German Rubtsov set up Conner's goal (2nd assist of the season) and then, very shortly thereafter, buried a Colin McDonald centering feed for his 4th goal of the young season. Veteran forward Greg Carey contributed the opening goal (5th) just 65 seconds into the game, and assisted on Conner's goal in the final 39 seconds of the opening stanza. Also getting into the points bonanza in the opening period were reigning AHL MVP Phil Varone (7th assist), veteran defenseman T.J. Brennan (8th assist) and second-year defenseman Mark Friedman (4th assist).
Former Phantoms goaltender Dustin Tokarski got the start in goal for Hartford but was pulled after the Rubtsov goal. He stopped just one of four shots in 4:36 of work. Marek Mazanec went the rest of the way, stopping 25 of 28 shots. Because the Wolf Pack ultimately scored three goals, the Conner tally late in the first period ended up being the game-winner, and Mazanec was tagged with the loss on his record.
Mike Vecchione (2nd) made it a 5-0 game just a half-minute into the second period. By this point, the outcome of the game was in little doubt and the teams basically played out the string for 39-plus minutes. There was a parade of penalties and some stretches of sloppy play on both sides.
The Wolf Pack received a power play goal from Steven Fogarty and two even-strength tallies from Shawn O'Donnell. The Phantoms' fourth line got a third period goal with Cole Bardreau (2nd goal) and Tyrell Goulbourne (2nd assist) getting notches on the stat sheet. Philip Samuelsson (1st) tacked on a late empty net goal for the final four-goal margin of victory.
The Phantoms are now off until Saturday. They have road games against Binghamton on Saturday and Hershey on Sunday.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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