The Boston Bruins finish January with a 6-3 home victory against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Boston dominated offensively throughout this game, and two unlikely forwards lead the charge towards the win.
In the first period, Boston scored two consecutive goals in the span of 41 seconds. Viktor Arvidsson started the scoring receiving a pass in the slot from Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha followed with a transition goal assisted by Morgan Geekie and Jonathan Aspirot.
The Bruins did have their mistakes this period. They only recorded one shot on net during a power play attempt and received a penalty late in the period, but they entered the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
In the second period, the Bruins continued their offensive momentum. Three minutes into the period, Mittelstadt danced around a check at the neutral zone and found Frasier Minten, who scored on a five-hole shot past Samuel Ersson.
The Flyers responded with a goal by Travis Konecny, but Mittelstadt brought the Bruins back to a three-goal lead with a back-hand rebound goal that went top shelf.
The Bruins added to their lead with a minute remaining in the second period, as Tanner Jeannot tipped a shot from the point by Andrew Peeke to give Boston their fifth goal of the night.
The Flyers answered back with a late goal of their own by Nikita Grebenkin, which gave them life heading into the final period.
In the third period, Boston kept the Flyers scoreless. Philadelphia pulled their goalie with four minutes remaining in the game, and Marat Khusnutdinov sealed the game with an empty net goal.
Matthew Poitras made his season debut in this game, and the 21 year old made an impact by the leading the Bruins in shots tonight. He also got into a scrum in the late minutes of the third period, receiving a minor penalty that ended his night early.
The bad news that came out of this game for Boston was the absence of Zacha, who left midway through the second period dealing with an upper body injury. This marks back-to-back games where a Bruins’ center has left a game with an injury.
January has been a successful month for the Bruins. They went undefeated at home winning nine consecutive games at the TD Garden, and Minten has played a crucial part during this stretch.
The 21 year old, who entered the game sixth in points amongst rookies, lead the Bruins in scoring this month with eight goals, and tonight he was a key contributor towards the victory.
The Bruins will play their next game on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This game will take place at Raymond James Stadium as part of the NHL’s annual Stadium Series event. Puck drop will be at 6:30 p.m. and it will air on ESPN.
WHO: Bruins (31-20-3) vs Flyers (24-19-9)
WHEN: 7 p.m.
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
Geekie – Minten – Pastrnak
Mittelstadt – Zacha – Arvidsson
Eyssimont – Poitras – Khusnutdinov
Jeannot – Kuraly – Kastelic
Zegras – Dvorak – Konecny
Barkey – Couturier – Tippett
Grebenkin – Pederson – Grunstrom
The Boston Bruins wrap up January with a matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.
With Elias Lindholm out of the lineup due to injury, the Bruins recall Matthew Poitras from Providence to play in tonight’s game. Lindholm left Tuesday’s game against the Predators midway into the second period with an upper body injury.
In Providence, Poitras put up 24 points in 39 games. “He’s gotta be himself,” Marco Sturm said about Poitras after Thursday’s practice. “I don’t need to see anything special out of him. I want to see him go up and down, play good defensively.”
