Photo Courtesy of, Bob DeVhiara, USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Flyers won their first preseason game 4-3 after defeating the Boston Bruins in a shootout.
With the win Philadelphia has begun the 2023-24 preseason with a 1-2 record.
The Flyers played their best and most complete game of the preseason in this matchup taking on the Bruins. As a result, it’s not surprising they managed to pull out the victory.
It appeared as though they may have been on their way to securing a win while leading 2-1 midway through the second period. But the Bruins began to dictate play and looked like they were poised to give the Flyers their third straight loss.
Early on in the game Philadelphia outshot Boston quite handedly, ten to one at a particular point. Joel Farabee managed to put the Flyers up 1-0 with a wrist shot snipe. The scoring chance occured due to a Bruins turnover that Farabee pounced on in the neutral zone which created the opportunity for the wrist shot goal.
The Bruins responded just five minutes later with a power-play tally. David Pastrnak scored his first of the preseason after the Flyers were getting hemmed in their defensive zone on the penalty-kill. Pastrnak sniped one past Samuel Ersson after a good pass from Charlie McAvoy.
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Speaking of power-play goals the Flyers managed to respond and score one of their own. The unit of Poehling, Foerster, Tippett. Brink and Sanheim impressed. They were able to move the puck quickly, create opportunities and eventually found the back of the net with some nice passing. Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink set up Ryan Poehling for a tap in goal, his second of the preseason.
In the second period the Bruins took control of the game and were the better team. Boston outshot the Flyers twelve to six and had more time with the puck in the offensive zone as well.
Pastrnak sparked the Bruins offense with a breakaway goal that was created by Joel Farabee’s turnover at his own blue line. Afterwards the Bruins continued to pressure the Flyers offensively and went up 3-2. Danton Heinen scored the goal and was left unmarked in the slot for the opportunity. The puck just trickled through Cal Petersen and was certainly a goal he would have wanted to have back.
Despite starting the third period down 3-2, the Flyers showed resilience and tied the game up. Jacob Gaucher forechecked in the offensive zone and caused a turnover. After retrieving the puck he passed it to Bobby Brink who was wide open in the middle of the ice. Brink then sniped a goal by Linus Ullmark glove side with a quick wrister to make it 3-3.
From that point forward, both teams traded chances quite equally during this spirited preseason contest. The game reached overtime due to a spectacular save made by Cal Petersen on a two on one scoring chance. Georgii Merkulov passed the puck over to Danton Heinen who was robbed by Petersen with a cross crease blocker save.
Once the game got to overtime the teams continued to create scoring chances and the Flyers almost capitalized on two separate occasions. Owen Tippett had a breakaway opportunity and was tripped which resulted in a penalty shot. Though the winger was unable to beat Linus Ullmark on the penalty shot opportunity. Joel Farabee also had a breakaway chance but couldn’t score on Ullmark either.
Neither the Flyers or Bruins scored throughout the overtime period and the game would ultimately be settled in a shootout. Cal Petersen turned away the attempts from Poitras and Pastrnak. While the Flyers shooters Bobby Brink and Morgan Frost scored on their respective shootout attempts.
Brink scored on a backhand shot that he roofed top shelf and showed incredible patience waiting for Ullmark’s net to open up. Frost also scored a skillful goal by slowing down with the puck after skating in on Ullmark. He then beat him glove side with a wrist shot.
Final Thoughts
What this game demonstrates is progression within the Flyers play. They looked considerably better in this matchup against the Bruins as compared to their two prior preseason games. The standouts for the Flyers in this particular game were Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Travis Sanheim and Cal Petersen.
Most notably, Brink scored a goal, registered an assist and a shootout goal. He was the Flyers most effective forward in this game along with Joel Farabee who also put forth a strong offensive showing.
Specifically, Brink’s performance could put pressure on Tyson Foerster moving forward to show more of his offensive prowess in upcoming preseason games.
Additionally, Petersen had a very strong game in net. Which only adds to the uncertainty surrounding who will back up Carter Hart this upcoming season. Petersen currently finds himself in a battle with Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandstrom to secure the backup goaltender role. The veteran netminder saved 16 of 17 shots and posted a .941 save percentage while taking on the Bruins.
One final thing to note is that Travis Sanheim had a very strong game in terms of transitioning and distributing the puck. He played a total of 28:13 time on ice during this game as well.
The Philadelphia Flyers have a quick turnaround ahead with another preseason matchup scheduled against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 7:00 PM. It will be their first home game of the preseason so far as they host the Devils at the Wells Fargo Center. They’ll be looking to extend their win streak to two games as players continue to compete for roster positions.
