Boston Bruins: 3 Keys to a Win Against the Flyers Tonight
The Boston Bruins have a chance to finish their four-game road trip through Washington and Philadelphia tonight with an unbeaten record. They have already secured five out of a possible six points with an overtime loss and regulation win against the Capitals and an overtime win Wednesday night against the Flyers.
If the Bruins are to take over sole possession of the East Division before a four-day break, these three keys will go a long way towards a victory.
3. Limit defensive end breakdowns.
In Wednesday’s win over the Flyers, Philly scored their three goals on defensive breakdowns by the Bruins.
On the first goal by Kevin Hayes, the Bruins were pinned their end, unable to get possession to clear the puck. The Flyers’ pressure paid off and Hayes was left alone between the dots and one-timed a pass by Tuukka Rask.
On Philadelphia’s second goal early in the third period, once again the Bruins got running around in their end, which eventually led to Jakub Voracek all alone at the side of the net for the easiest tap-in goal of his career into an empty net.
In the third period, Charlie McAvoy tried to make a play at the Flyers blue line, which led to a 2-on-1 break for Philly, and Joel Farabee one-timed a pass from James van Riemsdyk past a sliding Rask for a two-goal advantage.
Should Rask have bailed out his teammates and stopped Hayes’ goal? Maybe since it hit his glove, but there was nothing he could do on the other two, which were breakdowns. The Bruins have been good in their end through the first 10 games and being good in their end tonight would go a long way into getting a win.
2. Middle-six scoring production at even strength.
Yes, it’s been 10 games, but the Bruins have yet to see that consistent secondary scoring at even strength.
Boston has been hit with injuries to their middle-six forward groupings with Jake DeBrusk and Ondrej Kase out, which has led to some shuffling from coach Bruce Cassidy. Centers David Krejci and Charlie Coyle have had different combinations the last couple of games, which doesn’t help with chemistry.
Nick Ritchie has been producing offense, but that has mostly come on the power play. Craig Smith has scored three goals in his first season with the Black and Gold, but after that, most of the damage has been done by the Bruins’ top line.
Trent Frederic and Chris Wagner have been moved up from the fourth line to join Coyle on the third line, but neither of them will light up the scoresheet. Karson Kuhlman and Anders Bjork have been up in the middle-six, but that’s more out of necessity with the injuries that have piled up with the forwards.
Can the Bruins’ top line continue to produce like they are? Yes, but any help from the middle-six tonight would be welcomed offense.
1. The red-hot power play continues to produce.
The Bruins power play was producing before David Pastrnak made his season debut three games ago, but now that the former Maurice Rocket Richard Award co-winner from last season has returned, the unit has got even more dangerous.
Boston is 7-for-11 this season in three games against the Flyers on the power play and it played a key role in Wednesday’s come-from-behind victory when they went 3-for-4.
Trailing 3-1, the Bruins used two third period power play goals from Pastrnak, including his second with 15 seconds left to force overtime, to tie the game, before Patrice Bergeron won it 31 seconds into the extra session.
Last Saturday night in Washington, Cassidy used a five forward power play which scored to jump-start their first three-goal comeback against the Capitals. The unit was successful again Wednesday night in the third period on Pasta’s first goal.
Philadelphia took two penalties in the final two minutes of the game and the Bruins made them pay big time. The hottest power play in the league continues to be a big reason why Boston has been able to rally in the first three games of the road trip to secure at least one point in each game.
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This has already been a good road trip for the Bruins through the first three games. A win tonight in Philadelphia would make it a great road trip.