What to watch as Flyers try to save their season against Bruins
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Getty Images
The 18-15-6 Philadelphia Flyers will try and save their season at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday against the 21-10-6 Boston Bruins.
Here’s what to watch:
The finale
This is the eighth and final meeting of the season series between the Flyers and the Bruin. It’s the third game this week between the teams.
The Flyers are 1-4-2 against Boston this season, including a 3-2 overtime win in Boston on Monday and a 4-2 home loss the next night.
Among the seven games played to date, Boston won two in blowout fashion while the other five have either seen the game tied or the Flyers leading within the third period. Three of the games have gone beyond regulation, with the Bruins winning once via shootout and once in overtime.
Struggles
The Flyers entered the month of March with an 11-4-3 record and the highest points percentage in the East Division. Since that time, the club has gone 7-11-3. The Flyers have fell in the standings to sixth place in the division and are six points behind the Bruins for fourth place in the east with the Bruins two games ahead.
Philly will play the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon, wrapping up their season series. The Flyers are 5-2-0 against the Sabres this season but both losses were ugly 6-1 defeats and the last two Flyers wins required multi-goal comebacks in the third period and then victories beyond regulation.
The Flyers will be playing for the fourth time in six nights. By Sunday, it will be a five-in-seven.
The Flyers held an optional practice at the Skate Zone on Friday afternoon. Head coach Alain Vigneault indicated that he planned to have the same lineup and line combinations on Saturday as in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Islanders on Thursday. Brian Elliott will get the start in goal on Saturday, with Carter Hart playing on Sunday.
Projected lineups
Flyers:
25 James van Riemsdyk- 14 Sean Couturier – 23 Oskar Lindblom
21 Scott Laughton – 13 Kevin Hayes – 86 Joel Farabee
93 Jakub Voracek – 28 Claude Giroux – 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl – 19 Nolan Patrick – 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov – 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim – 8 Robert Hägg
55 Sam Morin – 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
37 Brian Elliott
[79 Carter Hart]
PP1: Giroux, Patrick, Farabee, Voracek, Provorov.
PP2: Hayes, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Gostisbehere.
Scratches: 5 Phil Myers (healthy), 56 Erik Gustafsson (healthy).
Injured reserve: 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
Bruins:
63 Brad Marchand – 37 Patrice Bergeron -12 Craig Smith
21 Nick Ritchie – 46 David Krejci – 88 David Pastrnak
74 Jake DeBrusk – 13 Charlie Coyle – 83 Karson Kuhlman
81 Anton Blidh – 52 Sean Kuraly – 14 Chris Wagner
48 Matt Grzelcyk – 86 Kevan Miller
67 Jakub Zboril – 44 Stephen Kampfer
55 Jeremy Lauzon – 75 Connor Clifton
1 Jeremy Swayman
[80 Dan Vladar]
PP1: Marchand, Ritchie, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Grzelcyk
PP2: DeBrusk, Coyle, Krejci, Smith, Kampfer
Scratches: 73 Charlie McAvoy (upper body), 10 Anders Bjork (healthy), 84 Jarred Tinordi (healthy).
Injured reserve: 25 Brandon Carlo (upper body), 40 Tuukka Rask (upper body), 27 John Moore (hip surgery), 28 Ondrej Kase (concussion).
COVID-19 protocol: 41 Jaroslav Halak.
Essentials
When: 2:00 P.M. E.S.T.
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Social media coverage: Philly Sports Reports’ Twitter & Instagram.
