The Bruins have not played their best against desperate teams trying to make the playoffs since the All-Star break. But with an energized St. Patrick’s eve Garden into the game from the puck drop on Saturday night, the B’s took a three-goal lead in the third and then nervously secured a 6-5 win home against Philadelphia.
The B’s overcame two one-goal deficits and scored four straight goals, including three in a span of 2:56 early to propel them to the win. But it wasn’t easy.
The two points also pushed them ahead of the Florida Panthers, who lost to the Lightning earlier in the evening, for first overall in the league.
With just a three-point cushion separating them being out of the playoff picture, and their coach John Tortorella back from a two-game suspension, the Flyers came ready to play. They contested every puck and held the B’s off the shot clock for the first 12:26.
They also took the first lead of the game at 4:18. Along the right boards in the offensive zone, David Pastrnak, who’d just missed the net on a good chance from the slot, could not gather a loose puck. Charlie McAvoy pinched down and couldn’t get it either. That allowed Garnet Hathaway to break out on a 2-on-1 that evolved into a 3-on-1. Hathaway made the cross-ice pass to Ryan Poehling, who fired a one-timer past Jeremy Swayman.
The Bruins knew they were in a game and responded in kind, pushing back and starting to get some offensive zone time. Their first shot of the game came on a John Beecher one-timer on which goalie Felix Sandstrom needed to make an exceptional pad save.
Later in the period, the B’s tied it up just seconds after they nearly went down 2-0. Travis Konecny got behind Parker Wotherspoon for a quick breakaway but Swayman stoned him with good pad stop. Wotherspoon quickly retrieved the puck and got it up to Jake DeBrusk. Cutting left to right, DeBrusk gained the zone with speed and fed Morgan Geekie, who was near the end of his shift. Geekie stepped into the right circle and unleashed a slap shot to the far top corner, his 16th of the year at 15:51.
The B’s had to kill off the only penalty of the period, a Brandon Carlo tripping, and they did so with a couple of big blocks from Beecher and Andrew Peeke.
They weren’t so fortunate on the next penalty they took in the second period. McAvoy delivered what looked like a good check through the body on Konecny, but it rode up to catch the Flyer in the head after initial contact and he was called for an illegal check to the head.
Just before the penalty expired, Joel Farabee tipped home a Cam York shot at 12:01 to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
But the B’s equalized at 15:32 when they got their first power play of the game. Pavel Zacha won a faceoff and got it over to Brad Marchand. The captain could not handle the pass, but he stuck with it and sent a backhand pass through the slot for Charlie Coyle, who had a wide open net for his 22nd of the year, a new career high for the centerman.
The game was getting aggressive and, after a scuffle after the horn to end the second period, matching minors were given out and the third started with a 4-on-4. And it was with that extra ice that the B’s took their first lead of the game at 1:08 of the third. The B’s had controlled the play on the 4-on-4 and, after Pastrnak handed it off to an oncoming Coyle, who roofed it past Sandstroom.
That was just the beginning. Peeke got his first point as a Bruin by moving to the right side and passing to Beecher in front. Beecher's initial shot hit the post, but he followed up with his own rebound for his sixth point.
Then only 19 seconds later, Jake DeBrusk (17) received a pass from Marchand and made a skillful move to avoid the fallen Sandstrom and put it inside the near post at 4:04.
With that, Tortorella used his timeout to stop the scoring, which it did.
The Flyers scored one with 5:48 remaining in the third period when Sean Couturier noticed Swayman leaning the wrong way and passed to Nick Deslauriers from behind the net for a tap-in at the side of the net.
Then with 1:02 left in the third period, Morgan Frost brought the Flyers back to within one with a beautiful between-the-legs finish at the top of the crease.
But with 2:59 left, Danton Heinen started an odd-man rush from a defensive zone block and scored a goal from the left wing.
It wasn't over. With 2:04 left in the third period, Farabee scored on a wraparound with Sandstrom pulled. But the Bruins somehow survived the intense attack for the win.
