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Flyers Gameday: 4/5/21 @ BOS; Phantoms @ Bingo (Newark) |
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GAME 37: FLYERS @ BRUINS
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (17-14-5) are in Beantown on Monday take on Bruce Cassidy's Boston Bruins (19-10-5). Game time at TD Garden is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the sixth of eight meetings this season between the teams. The Flyers are 0-3-2 thus far against the Bruins. Boston owns two blowout wins against the Flyers (one at TD Garden and the other in Lake Tahoe), one shootout win (following a third period comeback), a shootout win (after a third-period comeback) and a 2-1 regulation win (after the Flyers led 1-0 in the third period).
The Flyers and Bruins will play each other three times this week. They'll rematch on Tuesday in Philadelphia. After the Flyers play the Islanders on Thursday and the Bruins visit the Washington Capitals the same night, Philly and Boston will conclude their season series on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
Entering Monday's game, the Flyers are four points (plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Bruins in the battle for the final playoff spot in the East Division. Boston also holds two games in hand on the Flyers. From a practical standpoint, the Flyers need to win all three of the upcoming head-to-head games with at least two coming in regulation. Boston would still have the two games in hand but the Flyers would pass them in points and the tiebreaker.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers entered March with an 11-4-3 record only to sink themselves with a 6-10-1 showing and a franchise single-month worst 4.41 team goals against average. On Saturday, Philadelphia opened its April slate by playing pretty well overall against the Islanders -- at least at 5-on-5, where they established a significant puck possession advantage -- but had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period, and ultimately lost via four-round shootout, 3-2 (1-0).
The silver lining from Saturday's game: Carter Hart played by far his best game since recording a shutout in Buffalo in late February. Actually, Hart arguably played better in the Islanders' game than the shutout of the Sabres because he faced more Grade A scoring chances. Hart had no chance on the first goal in the Islanders game and little chance on the second.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux led the third period charge against what had been the NHL's best third-period club entering Saturday's tilt. Giroux scored backhanded and forehand goals to tie the game; the first one going off the post and in, the second going bar-down. The forechecking work of the previously struggling Travis Konecny started both goal sequences, and Jakub Voracek made a perfect pass to Giroux on the second goal.
Ultimately, Islanders' goalie Ilya Sorokin got the last laugh, however. In the bottom of the third round of the shootout, Giroux had a chance to win the game. The goalie seemed to be beaten on the attempt but recovered to kick out his leg and make a spectacular 10-bell stop. New York went on to win the shootout in round four.
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Philadelphia's penalty kill, apart from brief upticks (including an 11-for-12 run), has had a major backslide for most of this season after being a key area of improvement last year. The team did manage to come up with two vital kills in the third period on Saturday -- which notably included rookie Tanner Laczynski being part of the rotation in his NHL debut -- but has been in a 74.6 percent from March 1 through last game.
Statistically, the Flyers power play from March 1 through the Islanders game was in the middle of the NHL pack at 19.6 percent (ranked 14th in that span) but letdowns in key junctures of games have contributed to winnable games turning into losses. On Saturday, the Flyers got nothing from a lengthy 5-on-3 or the remaining 5-on-4 time and also had a letdown on their first PK of the game. In a game that was ultimately decided beyond regulation, that's exactly the sort of scenario that can produce better outcomes if executed favorably.
Overall this season, the Flyers rank 19th in the league on the power play.
Bruins Outlook
The Bruins' place in the East Division standings is buoyed by their undefeated head-to-head record against the Flyers this season. Their four-point standings edge over the Flyers in large part comes from the fact that Boston has garnered all 10 possible points from the five games against Philly while the Flyers have just two points via regulation ties and OT/SO losses.
Boston didn't struggle in March (7-5-3) nearly to the same extent as the Flyers, but was in an offensive funk of its own before the calendar flipped to April. On Saturday, the Bruins prevailed, 7-5, in a wild game against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. Arch-agitator Brad Marchand led the way with a hat trick and an assist. David Pastrnak, who has torn apart the Flyers this season with eight points (6g, 2a) in just three games, notched a pair goals on Saturday.
Dating from March 1 to the Penguins game on Saturday, the Bruins boast a team 2.27 goals against average. Getting scoring depth of their own, however, has been a problem with the team scuffling along at a 2.40 goals per game rate. For too many teams this season, including the Bruins and even the Buffalo Sabres (winners of two 6-1 decisions against Philly), the Flyers have been a cure for what ails them offensively.
From March 1 through this past Saturday, the Bruins' power play clocks in at 18.8 percent (15th in the NHL in that span; one spot behind the Flyers). The PK, however, was stellar at 90.7 percent.
The Bruins could have Jake DeBrusk back in the lineup on Monday, depending about how he feels. He was removed from COVID-19 protocol on Sunday. Kevan Miller (knee surgery, soreness during rehab) could return later this week. Sean Kuraly had a relatively long stint in COVID-19 protoco (13 days) l but was finally cleared on March 31.
The Bruins have a few notable injuries elsewhere in the lineup. Number one goalie Tuukka Rask is dealing with an upper-body injury and is on injured reserve. Boston is also without defenseman Brandon Carlo (upper body, below the neck) is week-to-week. Ondrej Kase (IR, upper body) is now in day-to-day status.
Projected lineups
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk- 14 Sean Couturier - 86 Joel Farabee
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 19 Nolan Patrick
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 58 Tanner Laczynski - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
55 Sam Morin - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
37 Brian Elliott
[79 Carter Hart]
PP1: Giroux, Patrick, Farabee, Voracek, Provorov.
PP2: Hayes, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Gostisbehere.
Scratches: 56 Erik Gustafsson (healthy), 23 Oskar Lindblom (healthy).
Injured reserve: 8 Robert Hägg (shoulder, 2-4 weeks from 3/17/21), 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
BRUINS
63 Brad Marchand - 37 Patrice Bergeron -12 Craig Smith
21 Nick Ritchie - 46 David Krejci - 88 David Pastrnak
74 Jake DeBrusk - 13 Charlie Coyle - 19 Zach Senyshyn
11 Trent Frederic - 52 Sean Kuraly - 83 Karlson Kuhlman
48 Matt Grzelcyk - 73 Charlie McAvoy
55 Jeremy Lauzon - 75 Connor Clifton
67 Jakub Zboril - 44 Stephen Kampfer
80 Dan Vladar
[1 Jeremy Swayman]
PP1: Pastrnak, Bergeron, Ritchie, Marchand, Grzelcyk
PP2: Coyle, Krejcki, Smith, McAvoy, Kampfer
Scratches: 10 Anders Bjork (healthy), 84 Jarred Tinordi (healthy), 14 Chris Wagner (healthy).
Injured reserve: 40 Tuukka Rask (upper body), 25 Brandon Carlo (upper body), 28 Ondrej Kase (upper body), 86 Kevan Miller (knee, close to return), 27 John Moore (March 22 hip surgery, out for the season).
COVID-19 protocol: 41 Jaroslav Halak.
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Phantoms in Action on Monday
Scott Gordon's North Division leading Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-3-2) return to action on Monday night, visiting Mark Dennehy's Binghamton Devils (3-8-5) at the Barnabas Health Hockey House located inside the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ (Bingo's home rink for the 2020-21 season).
Back on March 10, a game between the Phantoms and Devils in Newark was suspended after one period with the score tied at 1-1. The game was stopped at that point because a Devils player in the starting lineup had to enter COVID-19 protocol. Tonight's game is NOT the resumption of the March 10 game. The rest of that match will be played in Newark on Monday, April 26 (6 p.m. EDT). Rather, tonight's game was a regularly scheduled match on the calendar.
Flyers 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster has been on a tear over the last week. He has four goals, two assists and a game-winning shootout conversion (vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) in his last two games. First-year power forward Wade Allison has four goals and nine points across his first seven games in the American Hockey League. Allison missed the start of the season due to ankle surgery in January.
Eighteen-year-old Zayde Wisdom started the season on a goal-scoring tear. His production has slowed the last couple weeks (he also lost a slam-dunk power play goal due to a too-hasty whistle with the puck uncovered) but the winger has continued to play a tenacious, gritty style.
Rookie defenseman Egor Zamula was originally projected to be day-to-day after a lower-body injury on a blocked shot but his absence has stretched out about a week-and-a-half at this point. He should be getting close to a return to the lineup.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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