After a gutsy come-from-behind shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night, the Boston Bruins are back in action against the Flyers tonight.
Last game we saw several firsts. It was the B’s first matchup of eight against the Flyers this season, rookie Jack Studnicka scored his first career NHL goal, Charlie Coyle scored his first goal of the season, and Boston finally scored their first 5-on-5 goal of the year.
We also saw that the Black and Gold are capable of scoring without David Pastrnak as they came back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to ultimately win the game 5-4 in a shootout.
Tonight, the game will be able seconds. The B’s will be looking for their second straight victory and I’m sure Coyle and Studnicka will be looking for their second goals of the season.
Projected Lineups
Boston Bruins
Record: 2-1-1
Right wing Ondrej Kase will miss his third straight game of the season with an upper-body injury. Additionally, we learned that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will also miss this game with a lower-body injury.
At first, Grizz was deemed most likely to play by head coach Bruce Cassidy yesterday after Grzelcyk and several other veterans took a maintenance day. However, plans have changed as Grizz is not good to go and is day to day. Connor Clifton will slot in for him and be playing his first game of the season as John Moore is also day to day with a lower-body injury.
Expect the B’s to lineup like this tonight:
Marchand – Bergeron – DeBrusk
Ritchie – Krejci – Studnicka
Bjork/Frederic – Coyle – Smith
Frederic/Bjork – Kuraly – Wagner
Lauzon – McAvoy
Clifton – Carlo
Zboril – Miller
Halak (Rask)
Cassidy switched up Trent Frederic and Anders Bjork yesterday at practice, so it’s unknown if this will carry on into tonight’s game. Cassidy will most likely continue his goalie rotation, so Jaroslav Halak gets the start tonight.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 3-1-1
Philly will still be missing some key players in this game. Center Sean Couturier is still out, as well as center Morgan Frost and defenseman Phil Myers.
I’m not exactly sure who will be in net for the Flyers, but my guess is Brian Elliott. Carter Hart was very good through the first two periods of last game but fell apart in the third. Elliott has played extremely well in one start and one relief outing, including a shutout in his start against the Buffalo Sabres.
Expect the Flyers lineup to look like this tonight:
Giroux – Hayes – Farabee
Lindblom – Patrick – Konecny
van Riemsdyk – Laughton – Voracek
Raffl – Bunnaman – Aube-Kubel
Provorov – Sanheim
Hägg – Braun
Gustafsson – Friedman
Elliott (Hart)
Where and when to watch Boston Bruins vs Philadelphia Flyers.
Puck drop: 7 PM EST
Location: TD Garden
TV Broadcast: NESN, NHL Network
Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
This will be a fun one to watch. Tensions will be high as the Flyers are looking to bounce back as they were frustrated by the Bruins last game. Boston will be looking to continue to show that they are more than just Pastrnak and co.