Jamie Drysdale, Travis Konecny, and Christian Dvorak were all in on the Flyers first two goals. But they were only there thanks to the sensational start Dan Vladar had in a 3-1 Philadelphia win. The win was capped off by an empty net goal from Sean Couturier, ending a lengthy slump.
The basics
First period: No scoring
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 3:40- Travis Konecny (Christian Dvorak, Jamie Drysdale), 11:55- Jamie Drysdale (Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak), 13:03- Charlie McAvoy (Hampus Lindholm, Pavel Zacha). 19:07: Sean Couturier (Noah Cates) (ENG)
SOG: 17 (PHI) – 27 (BOS)
Some takeaways
Deslauriers swan song?
Veteran Nic Deslauriers got the nod to play this afternoon, his first game action since Feb. 3 against Washington where he registered his first assist of the season and his only point of the year. Deslauriers went head-to-head with Bruins enforcer Tanne Jeannot. Deslauriers gave as good as he took initially but the longer the fight went on, the more punishment Deslauriers took, leaving him cut on the bridge of his nose as he headed to the penalty box. Both discussed it in the pre-game warm-up and it didn’t take long for the bout to begin.
It’s most likely a given the enforcer is 20-some games away from ending his career at least with Philadelphia if not for good. Sadly, Deslauriers came to the defense of Owen Tippett after a hard hit, taking a minor penalty which seemed needless in a very tight game.
Michkov looking very good
Matvei Michkov had the game-winner in overtime against the Rangers. He also looked quite good in the opening frame against Boston. Michkov, with Bobby Brink and center Christian Dvorak, set up Dvorak with a high IQ shot against Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman. The shot wasn’t going to result in a goal, but the rebound left Dvorak with a stellar chance he couldn’t cash in on. Late in the first, the line was also looking like a buzzsaw with Brink and Michkov finding some chemistry when not winning some one-on-one puck battles.
The second period was a continuation of that momentum, with a good first chance on a shift leading to a better second effort thanks to a fine keep by defenseman Emil Andrae. Couturier, Michkov, and Brink all were at Swayman’s doorstep trying to bury a garbage goal in. Dvorak was robbed by Swayman in the second with a beyond ridiculous glove save about a foot from the goal line as the Flyers center drove the net.
The game had just 20 shots combined halfway through regulation. But clearly one-third to half of the chances were as good as you could hope for. But back to Michkov. He was strong again in the third, making a nice defensive play and an equally smart dump in that wasn’t icing but was enough for a line change.
Ristolainen looking far from rusty
Philadelphia should keep getting calls from general managers wondering what it might take to get Rasmus Ristolainen to their club. This game didn’t dissuade anyone from those thoughts, as Ristolainen was once again quite solid from beginning to end. Paired with Travis Sanheim on the top pair (a perfect spot to showcase a blueliner you’d love to part with), Ristolainen was solid, making no great, highlight-reel plays but keeping the puck in front of him. He made several good plays, including taking the body to a Bruin with under three to go in regulation and making a nice clear that was long enough to make a line change but not hard enough to be called for icing.
Dan the man again, owning Geekie
Dan Vladar will probably see the glut of games the rest of the season barring injury. After a rather up and down game from Sam Ersson against the Rangers which ended with a win, Vladar got the start Saturday. He wasn’t tested much to start, stopping a low percentage wrister from the point about five minutes into the contest. He came up big on what looked like a two-on-zero breakaway. Thankfully third-liner Michael Eyssimont was the shooter and Vladar stopped him on the first shot and the rebound.
Although Morgan Geekie missed a wide open net earlier, Vladar’s best of the game was a toe save against Geekie who took a cross-ice pass from David Pastrnak. He wasn’t so lucky when he got a shot up high in the neck or collarbone area from Viktor Arvidsson. He stung him briefly but thankfully a television time out gave him a breather to recover and continue. Midway through the game, Geekie was stoned again on a fantastic Vladar sliding save that had the Bruins forward wondering what he had to do to score.
In the third, the Flyers looked to have given up the first goal, but Vladar emphatically believed it was no goal due to a bump from a Bruin forward. The referees agreed and the Bruins didn’t challenge the call. The goaltender wasn’t perfect, but had no chance at all on Boston’s first goal which cut the deficit in half. Charlie McAvoy’s shot was a bit of a knuckler but beat the goalie.
Tippett has a trying game
Owen Tippett looked to be on his game early, getting the first good chance of the game roughly 90 seconds in when he came down the wing and take a wrister that Bruins keeper Jeremy Swayman stopped. Tippett, finding himself on a line with Sean Couturier (who drew the first penalty after Nikita Zadorov tripped him) and Nikita Grebenkin, was looking like he could have a big afternoon. However, that first shift was probably as good as it got for the winger. Tippett didn’t really deliver a lot throughout, taking a big but clean hit on defenseman Charlie McAvoy just inside Boston’s blueliner which ruffled the feathers of both sides.
In the third TIppett was defensively pretty good, winning a few puck battles along the boards and enabling Grebenkin to clear the puck and get a much-needed line change.
Little bit of puck luck
The Flyers had 10 shots after 40 minutes. And they had no shots in the last half of the second. However, Philadelphia took advantage of a little bit of lady luck. A dump in took a great bounce for the Flyers, as it went to Dvorak. Dvorak got the puck over to Konecny who beat Swayman for a 1-0 lead. It was a fortunate bounce yes. But Dvorak’s hustle to get the puck and win the battle was crucial in getting the Flyers the lead.
TRAVIS KONECNY HAS THE ICEBREAKER! 🧊
— NHL (@NHL) February 28, 2026
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/fx3MkR8kHK
Second time? No puck luck needed!
Minutes later, the Flyers made some great passing out of what initially looked like a nothing shift. But thanks to Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale, they made some magic happen. Konecny skated around the net and found Drysdale with more space you could believe. Drysdale, completely uncovered, skated down on Swayman and delivered a lovely little wrist shot that beat Swayman cleanly for a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins left Jamie Drysdale all alone with Jeremy Swayman in a prime scoring position. Drysdale took full advantage of the open ice, 2-0 Flyers.
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) February 28, 2026
Goal: Drysdale (6) pic.twitter.com/LC9Bl1BxIW
The tandem of Konecny and Dvorak nearly had another after the first Boston goal. Dvorak feathered a pass to Konecny who was in alone. But Swayman made the key save at the key time.
Can the power play score? Don’t be silly!
The Flyers first power play unit featured Couturier, Noah Cates, and Tippett initially but didn’t gather any momentum. It wasn’t until the second unit with Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink, and Travis Konecny managed to get some quality chances. Brink had a brilliant chance in the slot after a tic-tac-toe passing play that had Zegras put the puck on a platter to Brink. The shot nearly beat Swayman but he got a piece of it with his stick.
After a rather comical looking mass of flesh around Swayman later on in the first, the Bruins took another minor, this time Grebenkin drawing the penalty. The Bruins had the first strong chance short-handed but Mark Kastelic was stopped by Vladar. This power play saw the units switch in terms of usage, with Konecny, Zegras, and Brink getting the first crack at scoring. They had a lot of zone time but no real quality chance.
On the other side of the coin, Philadelphia’s first penalty kill was late in the first when Couturier took a tripping penalty. This specific special teams has looked a bit better recently, having had a clean sheet in the last seven games before the Bruins tilt. The Flyers nearly scored on a fluke chance when Swayman just got the puck away from an oncoming Garnet Hathaway. The Bruins came back down the ice and Morgan Geekie had a chance on a wide open net. However his back door chance hit the outside of the net, keeping the game scoreless.
Following the Deslauriers minor, Cam York took another minor penalty, this one a trip with 4:24 to go in the second. Again, although sounding like a broken record, Geekie again was alone on Vladar, swallowing up a juicy rebound. But Vladar stood tall again, looking as if he was getting more and more in Geekie’s head with each passing shift.
And finally…for Couturier
It wasn’t a great shot, it was not against a goaltender. But at the end of the day Sean Couturier made a nice play at center ice, got over the red line, and put the puck in the net for an insurance goal and a 3-1 win. Had to be a bit of a lift for the captain to snap his lengthy goal slump. Even if it was an empty net, he’ll take it!
