David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick and Patrice Bergeron provided the game-winner as the Boston Bruins rallied back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to earn a 4-3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.
Pastrnak (three goals, assist) and Bergeron (goal, three assists) each finished with four points for the Bruins. Boston has won all three games against the Flyers this season.
Tuukka Rask came away with 22 saves on 25 shots while Philadelphia’s Carter Hart stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced.
Boston moved to 7-1-2 on the season while Philadelphia fell to 7-2-2.
Here’s how it went down:
PASTA READY EARLY
Pastrnak lit the lamp just 12 seconds into the game to give Boston a 1-0 advantage. It proved to be the lone goal of the first frame.
The Bruins benefited from seven Philadelphia turnovers while giving the puck away just once themselves. Both Boston and Philadelphia each had eight shots in the period.
The Bruins profited from a strong defensive play in the final minute of the period as Anton Blidh, making his season debut, blocked a Flyers chance before Rask made the rebound stop.
FLYERS DRAW LEVEL
Kevin Hayes scored Philly’s first goal with 4:31 gone in the middle period, sending the game into the second intermission tied up at one goal apiece. It was his sixth of the season and third in as many games.
Boston had a chance to take a lead late in the period as the Bruins had a man-advantage at 18:25.
Philadelphia had a power play of their own at 10:10 after Blidh was called for holding, but the B’s moved to a noteworthy 31-for-35 on the season. Kuraly even had a breakaway chance down a man after stealing the puck at the blue line.
ANOTHER THIRD-PERIOD COMEBACK
The Flyers scored a pair of third-period goals to take a 3-1 lead midway through the final period.
Jakub Voracek scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 1:03 of the period. It was assisted by teammates Nolan Patrick and Travis Sanheim.
Philadelphia’s Joel Farabee gave the Flyers some cushion with a 3-1 lead at 8:41 of the period. His shot came on an odd-man rush with Scott Laughton and James van Riemsdyk earning the assists.
Pastrnak potted his second goal of the game, his fourth of the season, on a third-period power play for the Bruins. It came after some impressive puck movement in the offensive zone, and was assisted by Bergeron and Nick Ritchie.
Philadelphia had another power-play chance after Jeremy Lauzon went to the box for a hold. Boston, though, came up with another key kill to keep it a one-game goal.
The B’s went to the power play with two minutes to play, and that’s when they forced overtime. Instead, Pastrnak scored the game-tying goal with 14.9 seconds left to send the game to extra time.
CAPPING THE COMEBACK
The Bruins benefitted from another power play in the final 10 seconds of the third period, heading into the overtime with a four-on-three advantage.
It didn’t take long to end it either, as Pastrnak found Bergeron in front of the crease for the game-winner 31 ticks into extra time.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will return to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to play the Flyers in the second game of their two-game set on Friday.
