No team has given the Flyers more problems this season than the Boston Bruins, but the visitors picked the perfect time to disrupt that trend Monday night at TD Garden.
Desperately needing a win to keep afloat in the East Division playoff race, the Flyers defeated the Bruins in overtime, 3-2, thanks to a breakaway goal from Travis Sanheim.
Sanheim blocked a shot and carried it toward the net all alone after Patrice Bergeron fell skating back to defend. Sanheim ended a 30-game goal-less streak.
“Sanny is a very smart player. In five-on-five, you may not see him jump up as much, but he has a lot of skill in that type of situation,” right winger Travis Konecny said. “When he jumps up like that, it’s usually at the right time.”
The win moved the Flyers to within three points of Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. Boston has two games in hand.
The teams will meet again Tuesday and Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
Boston had won the first five games (3-0-2) against the Flyers this season.
Boston goalie Dan Vladar (29 saves) made clutch saves on Sanheim and Konecny earlier in the overtime, while Brian Elliott (27 saves_ made a nice stop on Charlie Coyle’s backhander.
The Flyers were coming off Saturday’s hard-fought 3-2 shootout loss to the talented Islanders.
“The last two games we were playing against some well-structured teams that don’t give up a lot, and we;re kind of doing the same thing,” center Sean Couturier said. “We’ve tightened things up and haven’t let up as much. These are the type of tight games we need to learn how to win.”
With James van Riemsdyk distracting Vladar in front, Couturier scored on a power-play drive from the top of the left circle with 13:04 remaining, tying the game at 2-2.
Elliott made quality saves on Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Nick Ritchie earlier in the third period to keep the Flyers within a goal, 2-1, before Couturier’s 11th goal of the season tied it.
The Flyers’ penalty kill has been inept against Boston this season. You want numbers? Try these: 9 for 17 (52.9%). That was the Bruins’ ridiculous success rate on the power play after Patrice Bergeron redirected David Pastrnak’s pass into the net with 19:14 left in the second period, giving Boston the 2-1 lead.
A few minutes later, the Flyers had two great power-play chances from the doorstep, but Vladar, a rookie making just his fourth career start, made sensational saves on Claude Giroux and Konecny.
Vladar stopped defenseman Justin Braun as he came out of the penalty box and went in on a breakaway with 4:23 remaining in the second. A short time later, the 6-foot-5 goalie made two stops on Samuel Morin.
Vladar, 23, a third-round selection in the 2015 draft, was playing because Tuukka Rask is rounding into form from an injury, and Jaroslav Halak is on the COVID-19 protocol list.
The Bruins whipped three shots off the iron in the first 41 minutes, shots that would have put the Flyers in a deeper hole had they been a touch more accurate.
Before the opening faceoff, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Monday’s matchup was like a playoff game for his fading team.
“We know the importance of this game,” Vigneault said, “This should bring the best out of our team with what’s at stake.”
He talked to his team before the game about “embracing the challenge.”
They did, opening the scoring for the first time in their last seven games as Konecny picked up a loose puck and beat Vladar with 9:45 left in the first. It ended Konecny’s goal-less streak at 12 games.
Down the other end, Elliott was sharp, making big saves on two point-blank chances by Bergeron.
Elliott, however, could not stop Karson Kuhlman from the right circle with 2:27 to go in the first, knotting the score at 1-all. Jake Voracek was tripped as he gave away the puck to put the sequence in motion, but no call was made and Kuhlman’s high tracer beat Elliott to the glove side.
Boston won the first five meetings between the teams, including two blowouts (7-3 and 6-1) and three games in which the Flyers blew third-period leads. Those games explain why Boston is ahead of the Flyers in the standings.
The Flyers, who were guilty of several unforced icings in the first two periods Monday, managed to chip away a point from the Bruins’ four-point lead. They will try to get within two points Tuesday.
“We know what’s at stake going forward here, and its just a matter of playing hard for one another,” Konecny said, adding that Monday was a “perfect example of everyone sticking together and playing hard, and Moose giving us a chance. Thankfully, we did enough at the end to reward Moose.”
