Joel Farabee, Carter Hart lift Flyers to gritty 3-2 shootout win in Boston

BOSTON — Against all odds, the Flyers — who should have been tired from playing on back-to-back nights — controlled play and took a 2-0 lead into the third period Sunday night in Boston.

The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins wore down the visitors in the third period, but the Flyers won it in a shootout, 3-2, at TD Garden.

Joel Farabee, who attended nearby Boston University, was the only player to score in the shootout, and Carter Hart stopped all three Bruins shots as the Flyers completed a sweep of their back-to-back weekend games.

"It is a good character win for us tonight,” Hart said after stopping Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak in the shootout.

“The momentum we had from [Saturday] just carried into today,” said Travis Konecny, referring to a 3-2 shootout win over Toronto. “Even though we let them back into the game, it’s still a huge road win on a back-to-back against Boston.”

With many of his former Boston University teammates in the crowd, Farabee was successful on just the second shootout attempt of his career, helping send the Bruins (11-3-3) to their third consecutive defeat.

“I watched some video and I knew if I was going to beat him, it was probably going to be glove [side],” said Farabee, who beat goalie Jaroslav Halak. “I kind of just reacted to what he gave me.”

The Flyers (10-5-2) moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, slipping ahead of the Penguins. Five of the Flyers’ last six games have gone beyond regulation, and they are 4-0-1 in those contests.

Phil Myers is coming of age and played a huge role in the win.

Sent to the minors earlier this season, primarily because he had options and Samuel Morin had to go through waivers, Myers has flourished since being recalled from the AHL’s Phantoms on Oct. 31.

The 6-foot-5 Myers became the first Flyers defenseman to score goals in three straight games since Hall of Famer Mark Howe in 1987, helping the Flyers build a 2-0 lead.

Boston got to within 2-1 as Danton Heinen jumped on a blocked shot in front of the net and scored on a spin-around shot with 14:01 left in regulation. Marchand made it 2-2 with 7:38 left, beating Hart from the left circle.

Hart stopped Pastrnak on a penalty shot with 4:56 remaining in regulation.

Boston, which had a 17-7 shots domination in the third period, got a power play with 3:20 to go in the third, but Hart stood tall and made his best save by denying Patrice Bergeron from in close.

The Flyers, playing their fourth game in six nights and having arrived at Boston around 2 a.m. Sunday after playing in Toronto on Saturday, should have been a tired team.

Instead, they dominated the opening period. It was arguably their best period of the season, especially considering they were playing on consecutive nights against one of the NHL’s top teams.

They built a 2-0 lead on goals by Konecny and Myers and outshot the rested Bruins, 14-5.

With 6:10 left in the first, Konecny banged in a rebound after Halak stopped a two-on-one. It was his eighth goal and it gave him points in 14 of the Flyers’ 17 games.

Myers took a pass from Konecny and made it 2-0, ripping a right-circle wrist shot past Halak with 2:04 to go in the first, giving him goals in three straight games.

“I’m confident out there and trying to keep it simple,” said Myers, 22, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2015. “I just threw the puck on net. The guy was trying to block it so I just waited until he slid by, and the far side was open so I just tried to get it there.”

“Like I’ve been saying, if you just play good defensively, the other things will take care of themselves,” said Myers after contributing a goal, six hits, and two blocked shots.

The Bruins had a second-period goal erased because of goalie interference, but they dominated the third period.

No matter. Hart and Farabee had the answers in the shootout as the Flyers registered their most gritty win of the young season.