Flyers Blow Two Leads in Series Against Boston

The Flyers took on the Bruins in another two game series and while it seems like the Flyers are playing better even strength hockey of late, they lost both of these matchups against the Bruins. Time to build on the positives and look ahead to Washington.

Game One: 4-3 Loss (OT)

Game one was a rollercoaster of emotions. It started off with David Pastrnak walking Gostisbehere off the opening faceoff, and then deflecting the puck off of Ivan Provorov and into the net for a 1-0 Bruins lead just 12 seconds in.

After the goal the Flyers continued their latest trend of not getting the puck out of their own zone and relying on their goalies to bail them out constantly. Luckily, it seemed to work for the first two periods of this contest as Carter Hart was fantastic in this game and gave them a chance to capture two points.

In the second period Sanheim started to elevate his game and take more chances. On a pinch in the Boston zone, Sanheim received a pass from Myers and fed Kevin Hayes for the cross crease one-timer for the equalizer.

Hockey players and coaches always seem to harp on the “process” and constantly improving their system to be at their best when things are clicking. Well, I believe starting in the second period of this game the Flyers are finding their even strength footing and are getting back to what made them such a dominant team last season.

In the beginning of the third, Sanheim would get the puck on another pinch and play it out front which found a wide open Voracek for the tap-in and the lead.

The Flyers would pad the lead on a rocket from Joel Farabee. The strides Farabee has made so far into his second season are incredible and he’s become crucial to this teams success early on. Some have dubbed him as the sniper we’ve always needed… boy would that be nice.

The fun stopped there though, as Aube-Kubel closed his hand on the puck midway through the third resulting in a powerplay for the Bruins, which Pastrnak cashed in on.

In classic Flyers vs. Bruins fashion, Pastrnak would complete the hat-trick with about ten seconds remaining to tie the game. Laughton then followed it up with one of the worst penalties I’ve seen this year, just a lazy play. To be honest with you if Vigneault is going to sit Travis Konecny for not backchecking and playing the right way then this penalty should be a bench-able offense to him, but I digress.

Bergeron won the game for the Bruins right at the start of overtime, saw it coming. Is what it is.

Game Two: 2-1 Loss

The Flyers once again found some rhythm in this game and actually played a pretty good game. Brian Elliott got the nod for this matchup and despite a weak goal he allowed to Kuraly, he played a great game. The first two periods of this matchup were a dogfight and both goalies wouldn’t budge. Aube-Kubel would get into the Flyers first fight of the year against Connor Clifton, happy to see some aggression from the team.

James Van-Riemsdyk kicked off the third period with a net front powerplay goal to continue his hot streak, what a 180 he has done.

Boston tied the game on a net-front scramble goal from Brad Marchand, and would take the lead just 27 seconds after on a goal Elliott would like to have back.

That goal would prove to be the back breaker as the Flyers would fail to tie the game and it ended 2-1. As much as it stings, I feel like the Flyers played better hockey in these last two games than they have all season. Hopefully they can bring some kind of positive momentum forward.

Quick Thoughts

– Hart and Myers were ruled out of this game with injuries although Hart wasn’t starting regardless. Hart appears to have back spasms while Myers has an undisclosed upper-body injury.

– Farabee has just been awesome. Playing amazing hockey and looking confident, Joel has been a big piece to this good start.

– Once again our goaltending has been great and has given us a chance in almost every game this season.

– Couturier is close. Stay patient.

– JVR – Laughton – Farabee works so well.

– Defense and even strength play has been better of late and progressing forward in my opinion.

On to Washington.

Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Flyers

A Host on @TheLibertyYell and a contributor to @TheLibertyLine.

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