Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: The Philadelphia Flyers held a third-period lead in a matinee game in Boston and ended up on the losing side after the final horn. They were able to hold on for a loser point, but they should’ve had two the way the game was going.
Matvei Michkov scored twice in the first period to put the Flyers up 2-0 and Cam York scored late in the second period to put them back up by two at 3-1. Then the wheels fell off in the third period.
The Bruins scored twice within 10 minutes to tie the game, and although neither of those goals came on the power play, the Flyers played a man down for six of the final nearly 14 minutes in regulation.
The penalties in the third period definitely went in the Bruins’ favor, and John Tortorella made that known in his postgame press conference.
“Let me start. One thing I teach my team to do is not dive. Maybe I should start teaching them that,” he said. “The way this has gone here, the way this s**t goes on, maybe I should start teaching them how to dive.”
"I'm proud of the team. I have no qualms with our team."
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 7, 2024
Hear from Torts following a 4-3 OT loss in Boston.#PHIvsBOS | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/wxx3zZZsAj
While the Bruins got three power plays in the final frame, the Flyers didn’t get a man advantage despite a few borderline plays by Boston.
“I’m not going to go too deep into it. It’s one of the things we talk about most as a team is we’re going to play an honest game. There’s no cheating,” Tortorella continued. “There’s no embarrassing referees. You don’t embarrass the referees. The s**t that went on here tonight is just ridiculous. I’m proud of the way our team played. Did we piss another one away? Yeah, but other people had a little bit to do with that also.”
Travis Konecny’s interference penalty to kick off the parade to the box in the third period was one that he didn’t need to take, but the tripping call on Garnet Hathaway was a ticky-tack at best.
Boston gets an extremely late whistle on this call…
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) December 7, 2024
John Tortorella is in DISBELIEF. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/NT4kTSFv91
Konecny was pulled by the concussion spotter following his penalty and the Flyers’ leading scorer didn’t see the ice again despite returning to the bench.
“He was pulled by the spotter and I stopped playing him,” Tortorella said. “He’s undisciplined, he’s just too undisciplined.”
Ultimately, the Flyers should’ve came away with two points in this game and it could end up being a big point in the playoff race — if that’s the type of thing you care about. The Flyers certainly do.
“I’m proud of the team. I have no qualms with our team how they played,” Tortorella concluded. “It’s never a question with me about our fight. That’s a given in our room here. That’s what keeps us afloat.”
The Flyers will continue to fight as they return home to host the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday night.
