The Bruins expected a hard, physical game Saturday, but a familiar face in net stood in their way.
The Boston Bruins (33-21-5) snapped an eight-game point streak in Philadelphia on Saturday. They could not solve former Bruin Dan Vladar and lost 3-1 to the Flyers (27-21-11). Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games, but staying out of the net-front prevented them from beating the Flyers’ goalie.
Ahead of the game, Marco Sturm knew what was coming.
“The Philly guys don’t like the Boston guys, let’s put it that way. They don’t like the Bruins. It’s always a physical game, it’s always a good game.”
Eight minutes into the first period, Tanner Jeannot and Nic Deslauriers met at center ice for a spirited bout.
WATCH: Tanner Jeannot vs. Nic Deslauriers
After the first period, the Flyers had laid 10 hits, and the Bruins had 4. The Flyers finished with 29 to the Bruins’ 25.
There was no scoring for the first 40 minutes of the hockey game, but both goaltenders put on a show.
“I thought [Swayman] was outstanding today,” said Marco Sturm about his starting goaltender. “End of the day, we couldn’t find a way to score today.”
Swayman made 14 saves on the 16 shots he faced – not many – but he displayed highlight-reel stops throughout the game.
A bad bounce landed on Christian Dvorak’s stick. He found Travis Konecny for the Flyers’ first tally.
“It’s unfortunate,” Swayman said after the game. “It’s hockey, and yeah, you want to focus on the next shot, which we did. And I thought that we responded really well.”
“Hit a stanchion and then as soon as I went to swipe it, it popped over my stick. It’s one of those things; it happens in hockey all the time. Not the right game to happen.”
On the Flyers’ second goal, Jamie Drysdale had time and space in the slot. Morgan Geekie took the blame for that one after the game.
On the other end of the ice, Dan Vladar, whom the Bruins drafted in 2015, made 26 saves on the 27 he faced.
The only player to get by Vladar was Charlie McAvoy – the two were roommates when they played together for the Providence Bruins. His goal, like all four from the game, happened in the third period.
“Yeah, Vladdy had a great game,” McAvoy said about his old roommate. “Sometimes you see that when you go play against your old team, right?”
One player who could not solve Vladar was the Bruins’ leading goal scorer, Morgan Geekie.
“It’s just one of those nights, their goalie played well,” Geekie said. “Couldn’t quite put it in the spot that I wanted to; it felt like a couple times. And Dave (Pastrnak) made a couple great plays. So, just one of those nights.”
Geekie finished with five shots on goal and also attempted four more.
Image courtesy of NaturalStatTrick
The Bruins scored to start the third period, but the referees immediately waved it off. Mikey Eyssimont tried to get in front of Vladar, but incidental contact from Travis Sanheim bumped him into the Flyers’ goalie.
Eyssimont and Sturm did not see eye to eye on that, which is why Sturm did not challenge.
“Just trying to take the shortcut to the paint,” Eyssimont said when asked about the play. “I got pushed into the goalie by their d-man. I was out of the way before the shot was taken.”
“Mikey went through the paint and touched the goalie by his own,” Sturm said on why he did not challenge. “So he didn’t really get pushed in. And they called a no-goal, so you got to think about that too.”
Aside from Eyssimont’s contact with Vladar, the Bruins were not getting to the net-front areas. Playing close to the goal has favored the Bruins this season, but not doing it is a part of the reason they could not score on Saturday.
“That’s how we had to get to him, get to the paint like that,” Eyssimont said after the game. “And we didn’t do enough of it.”
This time, Eyssimont and Sturm agreed.
“We didn’t have that mentality too,” Sturm added. “To go to the net hard, to the tough areas. We played on the outside way too much, and unfortunately, it cost us a point or two.”
Saturday marks the Bruins’ first regulation loss since January 20 in Dallas. And with 23 games remaining on the schedule, the playoff push is on.
“It’s tough when you lose these ones, especially when they are important in the East,” Geekie said after the game. “It feels like every game is do or die. So, I think it hurts a little more. But, like I said, we play a lot of games in March, and it’s going to go by pretty quick so just try and get back on the horse on Tuesday.”
The Bruins will have Sunday off; they return to practice on Monday morning. On Tuesday night, the Bruins will play the Pittsburgh Penguins (30-15-13) at the TD Garden.