Flyers, Brian Elliott will face Boston Bruins in battle for first place
Elliott, off to a strong start in goal, will try to help steer the Flyers into sole possession of first place Friday when they host Boston.
The winner of Friday night’s showdown between the Flyers and visiting Boston Bruins will be alone in first place in the new-look East Division.
Yes, it’s early, but not as early as a normal 82-game season. Teams are playing just 56 games in the pandemic-shortened season. Tonight is Game 12 for the Flyers, or 21.4 percent of their season.
Brian Elliott, 35, who has been impressive in the young season, will get the call for the Flyers, and coach Alain Vigneault said his team will have no other lineup changes.
Elliott is 3-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Tuukka Rask (4-1-1, 2.57, .888) will start again for the B’s.
The Flyers (7-2-2) blew a late 3-1 lead Wednesday and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Boston (7-1-2). It marked the second time in three games against Boston they had coughed up a two-goal, third-period lead and suffered a loss.
Boston scored three late power-play goals Wednesday; the Bruins are 7-for-11 on the power play in three games against the Flyers this season. The Flyers are 2-for-9.
In Wednesday’s game, the Flyers outplayed the Bruins for close to a 40-minute stretch before their penalty kill collapsed at the end.
“I liked our game, for the most part, five-on-five,” Vigneault said. “We’re not going to be perfect against strong opponents like we have in our division. There’s going to be momentum shifts, and for the first part of the game, they had the early momentum, and I thought after that we played extremely well five-on-five. I think we proved to everyone that we can play against a team that finished first overall in the league last year.”
Vigneault reiterated that the penalties the Flyers took Wednesday “we should stay away from” and that it has been discussed with his players to “make them very aware of what’s a good penalty and what’s a bad penalty. We learn from that lesson and we’re a better team for it.”
Boston right winger David Pastrnak had a hat trick and fired 11 shots (three on net) in Wednesday’s game. Pastrnak missed the first seven games this season as he was recovering from offseason hip surgery. He hasn’t missed a beat since returning: five goals and seven points in three games.
“I hope he has an off night, because the performance he put (together) in the last game was one of the best I’ve seen in a while,” Vigneault said. “He was part of eight scoring chances — four five-on-five — and that’s a huge number. That line, obviously, was a very effective line.”
The line of Pasternak (four points), center Patrice Bergeron (four points), and left winger Brad Marchand (assist) combined for nine points in the win. Bergeron had the overtime goal.
“We’re going to try to do a better job against them tonight, but it’s not easy,” Vigneault said. “I mean, you’re talking about three elite players. Three all-stars and they make it very challenging for you.”
While Bergeron’s line is considered the best in the NHL, the Bruins’ other three units are just mediocre. Conversely, the Flyers have four solid-but-not-spectacular lines and have much better balance throughout their lineup.
Breakaways
Vigneault said that center Nolan Patrick and left winger Oskar Lindblom were, as expected, a work in progress because of the time they missed last season, but that he was pleased with how they were progressing. ... The Bruins are on a 6-0-1 run since a 1-0 loss to the Islanders, while the Flyers have points in their last five games (4-0-1). Three of the Flyers’ four losses this season have been to Boston; the other was to Buffalo. ... In a preseason game, Felix Sandstrom made 21 saves as the Phantoms blanked Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 2-0. The Phantoms will open their AHL season Saturday in Hershey.