PHILADELPHIA — Sean Couturier scored a clutch third-period goal and the Flyers (gasp) killed off four penalties to keep their playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 win over the Bruins.
If there was one point of emphasis heading into their final meeting, it had to be for the Flyers to stay out of the box. They lost six of their first seven games this season against Boston as the Bruins converted 10 of 20 power plays.
But the Flyers survived four penalties, including two in the third period when Kevin Hayes was whistled for an unusual cross-check on David Pastrnak and Ivan Provorov tripped Pastrnak three minutes later. Pastrnak actually stepped on Provorov’s stick.
The victory allowed the Flyers (44 points) to move ahead of the idle Rangers (43) and to within four points of the Bruins (48). Winning the game in regulation was gigantic.
It was the biggest game of the year and the Flyers still came out sluggish. They gave up the first goal — again — and didn’t have a shot on goal for the first eight minutes. It was then that Travis Konecny had seen enough.
In a span of six minutes, Konecny scored a goal, drew a roughing penalty on Jeremy Lauzon, and assisted on the subsequent power play with a sweet pass to Shayne Gostisbehere.
“The first minute [of the game] was slower than we expected to come out,” Konecny said. “They came at us pretty hard, but I ended up getting a good bounce there and those are the kind of things that can get you back in the game and we ended up capitalizing there.”
They might want to make an addition to their list of executives because Patrice Bergeron has simply owned the Flyers this season. He scored his eighth goal in eight games against the Orange and Black. Fortunately for the Flyers, Saturday was their final game against the Bruins. They went 2-4-2 against Boston.
Konecny tied it with a quick wrister off a rebound of a Robert Hagg blast from the right point. Up until that little flurry, the Flyers had one shot on goal in the first 10 minutes.
Nolan Patrick took a tripping penalty on Lauzon when he accidentally sent Lauzon into the boards back-first. It was a dangerous play for two reasons. Fortunately, Lauzon was not injured. Secondly, it put the Bruins on the power play.
The Flyers nearly got an insurance goal, but Shayne Gostisbehere’s score was wiped out by a goaltender interference call — after a review — on Jake Voracek who brushed the head of Boston’s Jeremy Swayman.
Philadelphia hosts Buffalo on Sunday. They’re still not sure if they’re buyers heading into Monday’s trade deadline. But thanks to Couturier and the penalty-kill units, they’re not selling.
Now let’s see what happens with the Sabres game.
