First Period
The Flyers must have been to busy gawking at their own beautiful ass jerseys because David Pastrnak walked them off the opening faceoff to put Boston up 1-0 quickly. The pressure would not stop there, though. The Flyers would be on their heels for the majority of the period despite not allowing a ton of actual shots on goal. Only problem was, they weren’t generating many shots of their own.
The zone exits and entries were horrific, and when they finally did enter the zone they promptly were defending again seconds later. Overall, it looked like how many of the Flyers’ first periods have looked so far this season, and that’s not a good thing.
They finally seemed to find their footing a bit as the period came to a close, closing the gap in shots on goal and spending more time in the offensive zone. Zone exits were still a mess with the Bruins playing a tight game in the neutral zone. Their best chance of the period came just under the final minute mark, Erik Gustafsson jumped on a loose puck in the slot but was stopped by Tuukka Rask, and then Oskar Lindblom could not bury the rebound.
Second Period
Alright, didn’t allow a goal in the first 10 seconds, good start boys. They may have still been getting their teeth kicked in during the first few minutes, but this time Boston had nothing to show for it. A theme of this game was Boston shooting from anywhere and using their tenacious forecheck to get the puck back. It’s why the Flyers actually had the advantage in expected goals in the first: Boston just kept taking low quality shots.
As the period went on the Flyers began to generate some chances of their own, but still struggled to really make life hell for Rask. They would get a really good chance, but lose the puck right after killing momentum. One and done doesn’t work against a team like Boston, this is the Flyers’ top competition in the division.
But finally, the one and dones ended, and the Orange and Black really started to apply the pressure. They squandered a power play but on a long shift in their own zone the Boston defense was drained, and Travis Sanheim found Kevin Hayes for a one-timer at the faceoff dots and he buried it to tie the game. The Massachusetts native tallied his sixth career goal against Boston.
Hayes with the tying goal! pic.twitter.com/W8TB3nqRpu
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 4, 2021
Third Period
Just like the Bruins did to the Flyers in the first period, the Flyers jumped on the board early in the third. Jakub Voracek received a pass/shot from Sanheim at the side of the wide open net and slammed it home to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Eat up, Sielski.
Livin’ la vida loca. pic.twitter.com/lEajYNySLl
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 4, 2021
The pressure continued to come from the Flyers even with the Bruins pushing, and finally they took advantage of the Bruins aggressiveness. Scott Laughton and Joel Farabee came flying down the ice with a 2-on-1 and Farabee unleashed a howitzer top shelf on Rask to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead. Farabee has scored his points in bunches so far this season, and tonight picks up his sixth goal and ninth point. He showed flashes of this last season, but now he’s really putting it together, and it’s fun to watch.
Farabee with a rocket! pic.twitter.com/5cxqZ21wnF
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 4, 2021
Boston would go on the power play with about eight minutes to go however, and they wasted no time making it a one goal game. David Pastrnak continues to be absolutely insane and easily a top 10 player in the NHL, and buried a power play goal. An ill-advised penalty from Nicolas Aube-Kubel lead to the power play, not a good look from the guy who leads the Flyers in penalty minutes.
The Flyers would continue to face pressure from the Bruins and with two minutes to go Kevin Hayes would take a penalty setting up for a wild finish. And because life as a Philly sports fan is pain, who else but Pastrnak ties the game. Laughton then took a penalty right before the third period ended, meaning Boston would be on the man advantage heading into OT.
Overtime
Bergeron. Pain.
