Bruins go into All-Star break atop NHL standings with red-hot offense.
Many NHL teams are relieved that the All-Star break is finally here. The Boston Bruins are likely not one of them.
Sure, the nine days of respite will be beneficial for the Bruins to recover mentally and physically from the grind of the regular season, but this team is currently overwhelming opponents.
The Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on the road Saturday afternoon.David Pastrnak led the offensive onslaught with two goals and one assist.Pavel Zacha (two assists) and James van Riemsdyk (one goal, two assists) performed well.
The Bruins have won six of their previous eight games as they enter the All-Star break. They have the best record in the league (31-9-9) and lead the Atlantic Division by seven points over the Florida Panthers.
“That’s what you want in that last game, you know (the break) is right around the corner, but you want to make sure we focus and do all the right things, play with good habits still,” Bruins center Charlie Coyle told reporters postgame. “Having a solid game makes you feel a lot better heading into the break. With a triumph like that, you can enjoy your break a little more.
After struggling to score goals consistently over the first few months of the season, the Bruins’ offense has been red-hot since the holiday break ended. In their 17 games from Dec. 27 through Saturday, the B’s lead the league with 73 goals and rank eighth in scoring chances with 470, per Natural Stat Trick. Boston’s power play also has the sixth-best success rate during that span at 28.9 percent.
This club will eventually be judged on its performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and rightfully so. Over the last 15 years, the Bruins have consistently delivered strong regular-season performances. Postseason success has been far more difficult to come by.
Still, the Bruins deserve a lot of respect for dominating the league standings into February. Few people expected the Boston Bruins to be in first place at this point in the season after losing so many outstanding players last summer and without the salary cap money to replace them.
The Boston Bruins will play the Calgary Flames at TD Garden on February 6.
As Recchi goes into Flyers HOF, Flyers go into break with season-worst skid.
The Flyers will have to deal with a blowout loss and a five-game losing skid during their extended break.
They will hope for a prompt and effective reset.
The Boston Bruins defeated John Tortorella’s club 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
Tyson Foerster scored two goals for the Flyers (25-19-6).Olle Lycksell recorded an assist and was a plus-2.
The Flyers’ five-game slump is their longest of the season. The club has been outscored 27-12 in its five defeats.
In four of their five losses, the Flyers trailed 3-0. It’s nearly difficult to win like way. The Flyers’ lone game in which they did not fall behind was a 3-1 home loss to the Senators.
Two of the five losses came to the Lightning and Bruins (31-9-9) at home. The Flyers still have 10 games remaining against the Bruins, Panthers, Lightning and Maple Leafs, the top four teams in the Atlantic Division.
Before losing five straight, the Flyers had won five in a row to match their season-best win streak.
“I like our team,” Tortorella said. “Two weeks ago, when we played Dallas, it was probably the best game I’ve seen a team play under me in a number of years. We’ve lost ourselves a little bit here. I think we’ve lost confidence offensively, although I thought we generated some offense today.
“It’s how the league works sometimes — you have some good weeks and you have some struggles. We’re having some struggles now. We’ve just got to try to put our head down, see if we can solve some problems and get better.”
The Flyers now have nine days without a game, a stretch that includes the NHL All-Star break. Travis Konecny will represent the Flyers at the festivities Feb. 1-3 in Toronto.
“We’re reminding ourselves every day that we’ve put ourselves in a great spot as of where we are right now in the season, what we’ve done as far as in the standings,” Konecny said. “No one believed in us, that we’d be here. Maybe it’s a good time for a break — regroup, get some energy, enjoy some time with your family and friends and get back here.”
• Samuel Ersson was pulled after surrendering four first-period goals on 14 shots.
The four goals came in a hurry, all in the final six minutes of the opening frame.
“Don’t put this on Sam,” Tortorella said. “Don’t put it on Sam.”
Can he be better?
“I believe everyone can improve,” Tortorella stated.
The 24-year-old has played a lot lately. Saturday was his fourth consecutive start and sixth consecutive appearance.
As previously said, the Flyers are facing challenges and decisions in net.
Cal Petersen took over for Ersson at the beginning of the second quarter. He saved 12 of 14 shots in relief.
Boston goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 35 of the Flyers’ 37 shots.
• Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale, and Joel Farabee finished with minus-4 ratings.
These have been some of the Flyers’ most significant and dependable players.
“Obviously I need the reset just as much as probably anyone in here,” he remarked. “I need to get back to my game and the way I was playing earlier this year—being assertive, aggressive, dominating the play, making the right decisions, being difficult to play against, and playing against top lines. Right now, I am not doing that.”
The Flyers, a team that prides itself on blocking shots, had only 10.
David Pastrnak, an absolute Flyers killer, put up two goals and an assist.
• Prior to the game, Mark Recchi was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame.
The Hockey Hall of Famer had an illustrious, 1,652-game career. A prolific scoring winger, Recchi played more games for the Flyers (602) than he did for any other team. He finished his career in Boston, where he won his third and final Stanley Cup.
Recchi expressed his gratitude for Ed Snider, the Flyers’ iconic founder who died in April 2016, and the fan base.
“Philadelphia fans are above and beyond everybody,” he said in his speech. “They’re passionate, they’re fiery. You go through the dog days in January and February, and you guys are our sixth player on the ice. You guys mean that much to us. Keep that going. Never change, Flyer fans.”
• Owen Tippett missed his fourth consecutive game due to a lower-body injury. He hopes to be back in the lineup when the Flyers return to action on February 6.
“It’s still kind of early, see how it develops,” he said before Saturday’s game, “but as of right now, that’s my goal.”
Tippett agreed to an eight-year, $49.6 million contract extension Friday. The teenage winger, acquired from the Panthers through the Claude Giroux trade, experienced considerable pressure upon joining Philadelphia. He has become a key player for the Flyers, scoring goals and providing stability.
“Ever since I came over, me and my family were really comfortable being in the city of Philadelphia,” Tippett said. “With the fan base we have and you can see how exciting it is with what we have growing. … This is where I want to be, this is home now.”
The Flyers have missed him.
“He’s an important guy. We miss him terribly,” Tortorella said. “It doesn’t put us into where we can’t function without him. But he’s such an important guy for us. It’s so important with him where I can bounce him to different lines. He’s a type of guy that can push offense himself without any help, so he’s a very important guy for us.”
In other lineup matters, Egor Zamula missed Saturday’s game due to sickness.
• James van Riemsdyk returned to Philadelphia with the Bruins.
Last summer, when the Flyers were rebuilding, the veteran winger signed a one-year, $1 million contract with Boston. He had a solid day against his former club, scoring the Bruins’ sixth goal early in the second period, adding an assist in the third, and finished with a plus-3.
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