For Flyers, three games with Bruins this week could define their season
If the Flyers are going to climb past Boston and earn a playoff spot, their three games with the Bruins this week will be the key.
The Flyers have just six wins in their last 18 games, and they have lost all five matchups against Boston this season.
When you look at it that way, they should feel fortunate to be just four points behind the Bruins, the team they face Monday in Boston, and Tuesday and Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Bruins have struggled themselves over the last seven weeks. They are just 9-9-3 since Feb. 13.
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Boston sits in the fourth and final East Division playoff spot, four points ahead of the Flyers and Rangers, and it has two games in hand on Philadelphia.
“Those are games we need to win,” captain Claude Giroux said of the upcoming contests against Boston, “and if we play the way we did [Saturday], we’re certainly going to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Flyers played well but dropped a 3-2 shootout decision Saturday to the New York Islanders. Now they desperately need to win at least two of the three games against Boston this week in regulation.
“We can’t afford to lose any big games, basically,” right winger Jake Voracek said. “That’s the way it is. We shot ourselves in the foot [last month]…. It could be a good start to get on a good winning streak, but we didn’t do it much in March. We’ve got to make sure we bring the same intensity the next game. It’s going to be a tough three games, but we have to make sure we play the same each game.”
The Flyers are 0-3-2 against Boston this season, including a 7-3 loss in an outdoor game in Lake Tahoe. The Flyers were missing six regulars because of the COVID-19 protocol, and it was surprising the NHL ordered them to play the game.
Boston, which has averaged 4.6 goals in the five meetings, also owns a 6-1 win in this year’s series. The other three games were competitive, with the Flyers coughing up third-period leads in all of them.
With Carter Hart in the nets, the Flyers blew a 2-0 third-period lead and dropped a 5-4 shootout decision Jan. 21 in Boston. The Flyers also blew a late 3-1 lead and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision Feb. 3. Hart allowed three goals in the last 8:26, including the overtime.
Two nights later, Brian Elliott was aiming for a shutout and the Flyers were trying to climb into first place in the East, but Boston scored with 7:59 left in regulation to knot the score at 1-1. Elliott then allowed a bad goal to Sean Kuraly 27 seconds later as the Bruins escaped with a 2-1 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
Boston, sparked by Brad Marchand’s hat trick, is coming off Saturday’s 7-5 win over Pittsburgh.
“They’re the team that’s ahead of us in the standings, and we’ll prepare and do the things we usually do to prepare for a hockey game,” said Hart, who could get the start in the series opener. “We’ve got Monday night here in Boston at 7 o’clock, and we just have to be ready for that.”
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Boston’s David Pastrnak has erupted for six goals and eight points in three games against the Flyers this season. Patrice Bergeron (nine points in five games) and Marchand (eight points in five games) have also been Flyers killers this season.
The real killer has been this: The Bruins have outscored the Flyers in the third period, 12-5, and that has led to three of their wins.
Breakaways
Sandwiched between games with Boston this week is the Flyers’ game at the Islanders on Thursday. ... Voracek has four multi-point games in his last 12 contests. … Hart is 0-2-2 with a 5.32 GAA and .843 save percentage against the Bruins this season, while Elliott is 0-1 with a 2.32 GAA and .914 save percentage. … Boston will be without injured defenseman Brandon Carlo this week. … Before Saturday’s seven-goal outburst against Pittsburgh, Boston had scored a total of 12 goals in its previous five games. … The Flyers’ power play is 0-for-8 over the last three games. … Phantoms right winger Tyson Foerster, the Flyers’ first-round selection last year, had his second straight two-goal game – and the shootout winner -- as Lehigh Valley (12-3-2) edged Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5-4, on Saturday. Foerster, 19, selected No. 23 overall, has six goals and 11 points in 12 AHL games.