First Period
Looking to pull of a huge two game sweep of the Bruins, the Flyers seemed to have a good amount of energy to start this one. Boston was getting their chances but the Flyers were holding them to the outside, and generating good zone exits and rushes the other way. Even Sam Morin was getting in on the fun almost setting up the game’s first goal as he joined the rush. So, by all means, a good looking start!
And then the Bruins played party pooper.
A point shot found its way through all the traffic, and Ivan Provorov lost Patrice Bergeron in front of the net which is not ideal. Speaking of not ideal, Justin Braun was at the point during all of this. Bergeron quickly makes us forget about his blunder last night and puts Boston up 1-0.
To the Flyers’ credit, they were still pushing hard after the goal, and eventually got themselves a power play with just under 10 minutes to go in the first. In typical Flyers fashion, they had good chances including a spectacular look for Nolan Patrick, but it was denied.
One of the bigger disappointments this season has been the play of Nicolas Aube-Kubel and a big reason for that is holy moly this dude takes some dumb penalties. I mean Nic buddy you can’t tackle someone essentially and then look up at the ref after like, “oh, sorry, didn’t see ya there.”
And of course it leads to another Bergeron goal because would any other outcome really make sense? The defense broke down like it has done all year, and … yeah I’m really not sure what exactly Kevin Hayes was doing there. 2-0 Bruins.
Second Period
Well I’ll be damned, the Flyers started another period strong and this time found the back of the net to capitalize on it. Travis Konecny found Jake Voracek for a tap in goal right in the front of the net to cut the lead to 2-1 Bruins. It was another Bruins mistake that lead to the goal, with Jakub Zbroil falling down leading to Konecny getting the puck.
Konecny finds Voracek for the goal! pic.twitter.com/fLq1uumV2D
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) April 7, 2021
Alright so come on, we all expected a Bruins goal immediately afterwards, right? No way the Flyers tie this up right away. BUT WAIT, A WILD GHOST BEAR, HE WAS VERY EFFECTIVE. Gostisbehere took a cross-ice feed from Voracek and sniped one top shelf to tie the game in a truly unexpected turn of events.
Suddenly, the game is tied! Gostisbehere strikes. pic.twitter.com/y0pnuRT1Xl
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) April 7, 2021
Carter Hart probably should have had the second Bergeron goal, but overall he looked very strong in this one. He made a huge save on Pastrnak to keep the game tied and just minutes later the Flyers would go on the man advantage again looking to take the lead. They should probably just start declining these though, because we know they aren’t scoring on them.
But hoo boy the Flyers did a great job overall in this period. They hit a few posts, and really controlled the game. They probably should have lead going into the third with how well they played, but it really just hasn’t been that kind of season. Even when they do play well, puck luck is nowhere to be found. They outshot the Bruins 25-7 in the period, which, when was the last time we saw this team have a period as dominant against a team as good as Boston?
Third Period
The first eight minutes of the period were largely uneventful, and then the Flyers picked up one of those power plays mentioned earlier. Remember how I said they should probably just decline those? Yeah, they really should have.
Marchand scores shorthanded because this team cannot stop passing backwards on the power play. 3-2 Bruins.
The rest of the period was largely forgettable, but we gotta talk about the Sam Morin “penalty.”
Sam Morin gets two minutes for finishing a check. pic.twitter.com/b8gzBXO7j7
— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) April 7, 2021
I know the “the NHL is so soft nowadays” talk gets old, but holy mother of Christ WHAT IS THAT?? Before 2005 you could straight up mug opposing players and get nothing, Morin finishes a check against a team that gets away with murder every night and gets called? Fix your shit @ NHL officiating.
“What the fuck is that?”
Same. pic.twitter.com/TYskajbAIr
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) April 7, 2021
Bruins win 4-2 after Bergeron completes the hat trick, and the Flyers lose a huge opportunity to get some serious momentum going.
