Back-to-back wins have been tough to come by for the Boston Bruins this season. But entering Saturday’s game against the Flyers with a pair of consecutive victories in tow, the B’s were unable to make it three straight.
Facing the Flyers for the third time this week, the Bruins fell to Philadelphia 3-2 in a matinee at Wells Fargo Center.
The game entered the third period tied at a pair, but Sean Couturier’s goal at 6:59 in the frame proved to be the winner.
Matt Grzelcyk sustained an upper-body injury in the first period, leaving the Bruins to play with just five defensemen for 40 minutes.
Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk had the goals for Boston. Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere also scored for Philadelphia.
Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves for the Bruins, while Brian Elliott turned away 30 shots for the Flyers.
Boston falls to 21-11-6 with the loss. Philly climbs to to 19-15-6 with the win.
Here’s hw it all went down.
PHILLY FRENZY
The Bruins drew first blood, but quickly flamed out.
Shortly past the quarter point in the period, Matt Grzelcyk dumped a puck in from the red line, and the Flyers were unable to clear their zone. Brad Marchand pried the puck away from Gostisbehere, and it made its way to Craig Smith in the circle. Smith quickly found Bergeron in the slot, and the center fired it past Elliott at 5:38.
(You can watch the goal here.)
Later in the period, the Flyers carried the puck around their zone, with Robert Hagg ultimately sending the puck across the point to Travis Sanheim. The defenseman fired a shot that Swayman turned away, but he left a juicy rebound that Konecny quickly cleaned up to tie the game at 11:51.
Late in the period, Konecny drew a roughing penalty, which sent Jeremy Lauzon to the box. Mere seconds later, after retrieving the puck in their own end, Gostisbehere carried the puck into the neutral zone, feeding James van Riemsdyk to gain entry to the attacking zone. van Riemsdyk’s ensuing diagonal pass went to Konecny, who threw a puck to the net.
All the while, Gostisbehere had continued striding towards the crease, and he directed Konecny’s feed past Swayman to give the hosts the lead at 17:46.
ALL SQUARE
The middle frame featured just one goal, which went to the Bruins.
The Bruins had an opportunity on the man advantage around the midway point of the period, but were unable to cash in. Shortly after it went back to even strength, there was a scramble in front of the net.
DeBrusk finally gathered the loose change on the doorstep, and roofed a puck past Elliott for his first goal since March 18 to draw the game level at 11:45.
Just as they did in the first period, the Bruins outshot the Flyers 11-7 in the second.
COUTURIER CLOSES IT
With the game tied entering the final frame, Couturier scored the winner.
The Flyers gained entry to their zone, and van Riemsdyk collected a puck behind the net. He quickly fed Joel Farabee in the slot for what looked like a quality one-timer opportunity. Swayman shot to the front of his crease, but Farabee slipped a pass to Couturier, who had a basically empty net on an out-of-position Swayman, who didn’t get much help from his defensemen.
The Bruins searched desperately for an equalizer, but weren’t able to empty their net until there was a minute left. That didn’t prove to be enough time, as the Flyers hung on for the victory.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return home to play the second leg of the back-to-back, with the Washington Capitals set to visit Boston on Sunday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET, with pregame coverage on NESN beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
