Bruins Capitalize on Weary Flyers in 6-3 Win at TD Garden
The Flyers never quite looked like themselves Thursday night in Boston-and there was a good reason for that. After travel issues delayed their arrival until the early hours of the morning, the team hit the ice looking like a group that had spent more time in an airport terminal than a locker room.
By the time the second intermission rolled around, they were down three goals and clearly running on fumes. The final score-6-3 in favor of the Bruins-felt generous given how the game unfolded.
It was another rough outing for goaltender Sam Ersson, who faced heavy pressure throughout the night. While he didn’t get much help in front of him, at least two of the goals he allowed were ones he’d probably want back.
Things went from bad to worse late in the second period when Ersson appeared to tweak something in his midsection. He exited the game and did not return, officially listed with a lower-body injury.
Dan Vladar stepped in to finish the night.
The Flyers’ struggles in back-to-back situations continued. They’re now 2-5-1 in the second half of those sets this season and have dropped nine of their last 11 overall.
On the other side, the Bruins are in full stride-12-1-1 over their last 14 and winners of nine straight at TD Garden. This one felt like a team on the rise meeting one trying to catch its breath.
Sean Couturier, the Flyers’ captain, saw his ice time reduced and was bumped down to the fourth line, logging just 13 minutes. After the game, he didn’t sugarcoat the situation.
“I think we’re disconnected at times,” Couturier said. “The management of the game might not be the best right now. We have a lot of skill to make plays, so we have to find a way to work together and outcompete the other team consistently.”
With three home games left before the Olympic break, the Flyers are staring down a crucial stretch. They’ll need to regroup quickly if they want to stay in the playoff conversation.
“You can’t have one or two shifts off,” Couturier added. “Right now we’re just trying to find a way to get back on track.
No one is going to feel sorry for us, so it’s on us to get going, be better, find ways to get wins at this point in the year. We have to get back to the basics here and focus on ourselves.”
Head coach Rick Tocchet echoed those sentiments, pointing to mental errors-not effort-as the root of Thursday’s problems.
“There was a lot of effort tonight-got to give the guys credit,” Tocchet said. “But too many mistakes that go in our net.”
Tocchet didn’t have an update on Ersson postgame, but acknowledged he had no choice but to put Vladar in.
“It’s just some of the weak-side stuff we’re giving up,” Tocchet said. “And we can’t chase the game.”
The Bruins wasted no time jumping ahead. Viktor Arvidsson opened the scoring at 9:49 of the first period with a low-angle shot that slid through Ersson’s five-hole. Just 31 seconds later, Pavel Zacha doubled the lead, finishing off a slick setup from Morgan Geekie.
The Flyers briefly thought they had cut the deficit in half when Christian Dvorak found the back of the net midway through the first, but Boston challenged the play. A replay showed Nikita Grebenkin making contact with Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, and the goal was overturned for interference.
Down 2-0 to start the second, things unraveled further when Fraser Minten beat Ersson with a soft wrister at 2:27. But credit to Travis Konecny-he responded less than a minute later.
After some gritty work by Dvorak and Grebenkin in the corner, Konecny buried a shot past Swayman to make it 3-1. It was Konecny’s fourth goal in two games and his 13th multi-point game of the season, leading all Flyers in that category.
For a moment, it looked like the Flyers might claw their way back. But the Bruins slammed the door shut late in the period.
Casey Mittelstadt made it 4-1 at 16:12, with Minten again playing a key role in the buildup. Then, with just 1:20 left in the second, Tanner Jeannot redirected a long shot into the net to stretch Boston’s lead to 5-1.
Still, the Flyers kept pushing. Grebenkin cashed in on a second-chance opportunity after Konecny was denied on a breakaway, making it 5-2 at 19:03. In the third, Matvei Michkov added a power-play goal with under two minutes remaining, but by then, the outcome was already settled.
There were a few bright spots for Philadelphia despite the loss. Rasmus Ristolainen returned to the lineup after exiting early in Wednesday’s game in Columbus.
Owen Tippett reached a milestone, playing in his 400th NHL game. And while the Flyers’ power play continues to struggle-still ranked last in the league-Michkov’s late tally was at least a small step in the right direction.
Trevor Zegras slotted back into the center position, flanked by Bobby Brink and Michkov, while defenseman Emil Andrae was scratched in favor of Noah Juulsen.
But the most telling stat? The Flyers have now given up the first goal in 35 games this season. In a league where momentum matters more than ever, that’s a trend they’ll need to reverse-fast.
Next up: a Saturday afternoon matchup at home against the Kings. With the Olympic break looming, the Flyers are running out of time to rediscover their identity.