Boston Bruins: 3 Keys to a Win Against the Flyers Tonight
By Scott Roche
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.