Swayman & Bergeron Lead Bruins Over Flyers

One night after dropping a 3-2 decision in overtime at home, the Boston Bruins headed South to Philadelphia to play the Flyers again and turned the tables on the team chasing them in the standings.

On a night where defensemen Charlie McAvoy was scratched 30 minutes before the game with an upper-body injury, the Bruins got a stellar performance from rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman and a hat trick from captain Patrice Bergeron for a 4-2 victory at the Well Fargo Center. Here are some takeaways from a Black and Gold victory that puts them five points ahead of the Flyers and New York Rangers for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.

• Swayman was tremendous in keeping the Bruins in the game with 40 saves, including 23 in the second period alone. The 23-year-old looked calm, cool, and collective the whole game.
• The Bruins may have played their best period of hockey in the first period when they took a 2-0 lead into the locker room on two goals from Bergeron, which included his 900th career point. Philadelphia outshot the Bruins, 13-11, in the period, but for the most part, Boston carried the play and had the better of the scoring chances.

• The second period was something to watch, even for a Bruins fan. Philly had 25 shots in the period and found the back of the net just twice. Jakub Zboril fell down early in the period trying to carry the puck out of the zone and the Flyers turned the turnover into a goal when Travis Konecny found Jakub Voracek in front of the net who redirected his pass by Swayman. Two and a half minutes later, Shayne Gostisbehere, who was waived by the Flyers last week, but was not claimed, tied the game with a wrist shot over Swayman’s shoulder. After that, Swayman stopped everything else thrown at him.
• Talk about a big turnaround. The Bruins held the Flyers to just four shots on goal in the third period. Raise your hand if you saw that coming after watching the second period.
• With the game tied 2-2 in the third period, Kevan Miller was called for a penalty, but it was the Bruins that ended up scoring. Jeremy Lauzon and Brad Marchand broke in 2-on-1 and Marchand was able to beat Carter Hart between the legs for the game-winning goal.
• Speaking of Miller, he returned to the lineup after missing 46 days and 20 games. He was second in time-on-ice behind Lauzon at 22:25. He played a big part in the final minute of regulation when he pinned the puck along the boards for nearly 20 seconds, which ended up leading a Bergeron empty-net goal to seal the win.
• The Bruins improved to 11-0-1 when leading by two goals or more at any point in a game this season. That was in jeopardy in the second period, but the Bruins battled and found a way to get a win.
• The Bruins killed all three of the Flyers power plays and now have successfully killed 47 of their last 52 penalties, a big reason why their top killing unit in the league.

After a day off Wednesday, it’s on to Washington for a game with the Capitals and old friend Zdeno Chara, before they return to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon for their final game of the season with the Flyers.