After an awful start, the Flyers seemed to find their game in the second period Thursday night at TD Garden, only to revert to their earlier form.
As a result, they blew a 2-0 third-period lead and ruined a milestone night for Jake Voracek, falling to the Boston Bruins, 5-4, in a shootout that was won on Jake DeBrusk’s goal.
With 4:42 remaining in regulation, Brandon Carlo scored on a one-time blast from above the left circle to put the Bruins ahead for the first time in the game, 4-3. But the Flyers knotted it on a power-play goal by James van Riemsdyk with 3:32 left.
Boston’s Tuukka Rask made great point-blank saves to stop Voracek and Kevin Hayes in overtime.
In their first road game of the season, Voracek collected three assists, but it wasn’t enough to propel the Flyers past the Bruins (2-1-1).
The Flyers got goals from Claude Giroux (power play), van Riemsdyk (two), and Travis Sanheim.
Voracek collected the 699th, 700th and 701st points of his career, and he moved into fifth place on the franchise’s all-time assists list with 398 as he passed the great Mark Recchi.
Boston tied it at 3 and Nick Ritchie converted a Patrice Bergeron pass into a power-play goal with 6:38 left in regulation. Scott Laughton was in the penalty box for cross-checking.
The Flyers lost the services of rookie defenseman Mark Friedman who got tangled with Brad Marchand and appeared to hit his face on the ice midway through the second period. He went to the locker room for repairs and did not return.
The teams will meet again Saturday in Boston.
Friedman became the fourth Flyer injured in the first five games, joining Sean Couturier, Phil Myers, and Morgan Frost.
Sanheim joined the rush and charged the net and was in great position as Voracek’s pass/shot deflected off his skate and into the net to snap a 2-2 tie with 12:47 left in regulation.
The Bruins had tied it at 2 with two goals 69 seconds apart early in the third, getting tallies from Jack Studnicka (first of his career) and Charlie Coyle.
After a sleepy first period in which the Flyers were thoroughly dominated, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead on Giroux’s first goal of the season, a power-play tally with 13:43 remaining in the second.
A few seconds after Voracek drilled a shot off the crossbar, Giroux beat Tuukka Rask with a top-shelf, left-circle blast as Travis Konecny distracted the goaltender in front. The goal ended an 0 for 8 power-play skid.
“I closed my eyes and shot the puck,” Giroux kidded. “I just saw TK in front and tried to get it to the net. Sometimes when you keep it simple, things can open up after that, and it was able to go in there.”
Van Riemsdyk, stationed down low, converted a slick one-time pass from Voracek to make it 2-0 with 2:29 to go in the second.
In the first period, the Flyers sat back, had virtually no offensive-zone time, won just 24% of the faceoffs, and were outshot, 14-3.
But because Hart was flawless, they left the ice in a scoreless tie.
It was a good sign because Hart’s road numbers last season were sore on the eyes: a 4-10-2 record with a 3.81 goals-against average and .857 save percentage. (At home, he was brilliant: a 20-3-2 record with a 1.63 GAA and .943 save percentage.)
The 22-year-old goaltender stopped Bergeron’s redirection while Boston was on an early power play, turned aside Charlie McAvoy’s booming slapper with 8:24 to go in the first, and denied Craig Smith from the doorstep on another Bruins power play in the closing seconds of the first.
The pass-happy Flyers failed to get a shot on their lone first-period power play, making them zero for their last 8.
Boston, which was playing without David Pastrnak, their star right winger who is recovering from hip surgery, had not scored an even-strength goal this season until Studnicka struck early in the third period.
The Flyers had center Connor Bunnaman and defenseman Friedman (before his injury) in the lineup to replace Frost and Myers, respectively. Frost had replaced Couturier.
“Next-man-up-mentality,” coach Alain Vigneault said before the game.
Bunnaman, 22, played a solid game.
“I thought Bunny was the most improved player in camp this year,” center Kevin Hayes, a Boston-area native, said after Thursday’s morning skate. “He was flying out there and looked unbelievable. He deserves this opportunity.”
