The Philadelphia Flyers played their second game in three days against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. The Flyers had a rough start as the Bruins were clearly the more aggressive team, and for their efforts the Bruins took the lead in the first period on a goal by Patrice Bergeron. It was his second goal of the season. Kevin Hayes of the Flyers had some decent chances at the end of the first period, but the period ended 1-0 Boston.
Kevin Hayes scored for the Flyers early in the second period, but Craig Smith of the Bruins scored a little over a minute later to make it 2-1 Bruins. The Bruins continued to have a lot of energy throughout the period and the Flyers had trouble moving the puck out of their own end. Unfortunately, the Bruins controlled the play toward the end of the second period, and that hard-work paid off when Charlie Coyle scored late in the period to make it 3-1.
The third period was no better for the Flyers. They forced a number of turnovers that resulted in two goals by Brad Marchand in the first 10 minutes of the third period. The Flyers failed to capitalize on a power play and the Bruins put the game away with Patrice Bergeron’s second goal of the game. The game ended 6-1 Bruins.
Carter Hart pulled a Ron Hextall above, as Hexy must have went through at least 30 sticks over the course of his career.
The penalty kill was not good for the Flyers tonight as the Bruins had three power play goals. The Flyers were unable to succeed on any of their power plays. Turnovers in the defensive zones were also a major issue, leaving their goaltender in a bad position. They lost the first game in a shootout and then the wheels on the bus apparently came off. The Flyers drop to 3-2-1 on the season and have lost three out of their last four games.
They need to regroup and refocus as they start a two game series with the New Jersey Devils in Newark Tuesday night.
