The streaking Philadelphia Flyers headed north to face off against the current best team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins. The Flyers tried to maintain their momentum but quickly fell victim to the unstoppable Bruins.
The Philadelphia Flyers (18-19-7) faced off the Boston Bruins (34-5-4) on the Bruins’ home ice this afternoon, and this game was all Boston, all the time, giving Jeremy Swayman his first shutout of the season and the 6th of his career. The Bruins have not lost a game when scoring first this season.
Flyers at Bruins
David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha were ready to make it memorable for David Krejci’s 1000th game. The trio notched point after point, dominating the whole game.
Pastrnak was the first to score after Krejci stole the puck and set up Zacha for the feed over to Pastrnak to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first.
After the goal, the Flyers had scoring opportunities but couldn’t keep up with the Bruins.
“We had a good start, gave one for free, and never got caught up after that.”
John Tortorella; 1/16/2023
Before the end of the period, Zacha scored on a one-timer so good that he knocked himself off his feet.
The Bruins finished the first period outshooting the Flyers 11-9 and had a 2-0 lead.
The first period was brutal, but the Flyers could still make a comeback. Or so you hoped. In under five minutes, Boston scored two more goals, just 46 seconds apart, taking the energy entirely.
Brad Marchand made it 3-0 with his 14th of the season after winning a puck battle with Ivan Provorov. Then the all-Czech line jumped into the scoring party and got Zacha his second goal and Krejci’s third assist.
After an embarrassing four goals from the Bruins and almost no resistance from the Flyers, head coach John Tortorella felt like switching things up and had a goalie switch just before the midway mark of the game. Carter Hart headed to the bench, and Sam Ersson stepped in to relieve him.
“It wasn’t because of him [Hart.]”
John Tortorella; 1/16/2023
Ersson was able to keep them from scoring in the remaining minutes of the second period with some solid saves, keeping the Bruins at a measly 4-0 and returning some hope to Flyers fans.
The Bruins came back from intermission ready to finish the game and make any hope of the Flyers winning a thing of the past.
David Pastrnak closing in on first in the league in goal scoring, scores his second of the day and 35th of the season just seconds into the third.
Being up by five goals wasn’t enough for the Bruins, so Matt Grzelcyk made it an even six to finish the game.
The Flyers were given a final opportunity with a 5-on-3 powerplay to try and put one around Swayman but couldn’t enter the offensive zone. But that’s to be expected against the team who leads the league in penalty kills.
Up Next
The Bruins got the early goal from Pastrnak and never looked back. Swayman denied all 29 Philadelphia shots giving them a 6-0 win. The Bruins continue their 19-game point streak against the Flyers, the longest active streak in the NHL.
“How we answer tomorrow night, that’s what we’re looking at. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
John Tortorella; 1/16/2023
The Flyers hope to get back on track tomorrow night as they face the Anaheim Ducks at 7 pm.
(AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
