The Boston Bruins picked up “a huge point,” but they have scored just three goals in their last three games.

The Bruins (43-26-9) fell to the Philadelphia Flyers (39-26-12) on Easter Sunday in a 2-1 overtime loss. Pavel Zacha scored his 29th of the season, and Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves, but the Flyers came out on top while on a 5-on-3 in overtime. 

Like he has been all season, Marco Sturm is completely okay with picking up a point. 

“I thought it was a big… a huge point for us,” Sturm said after the game. “I know it was not everything smooth, but you know, guys battled back. We wanted to have the power play goal in the third, and we did. And [Korpisalo] made some great saves. Yeah, unfortunate a little bit in OT, but I will definitely take that point.” 

Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves, seven of them high-danger, according to Natural Stat Trick. He made 10 saves in the third period, and then three more in overtime, but Flyers’ rookie Porter Martone won the game at 2:31 of overtime. 

On the other end of the ice, the Bruins only got 19 shots on Dan Vladar. They had 22 against the Lightning on Saturday and 29 against the Panthers on Thursday. They scored one goal in each of those games. 

“I think we’re looking now a lot for quality shots instead of quantity. And I think sometimes when it’s not going our way, we have to kind of switch our mindset,” Pavel Zacha said after the game. “You know, going to the net, shooting more pucks. We talk about it, we just don’t do it in the games yet. And I think if you want to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to do that. Have more shots, more tips.”

Zacha scored the lone Bruins’ goal on Sunday. The goal marked his 11th power play goal of the season, which is the second-most on the team (Morgan Geekie, 12). 

The Bruins’ power play went 1-for-1 against the Flyers. They almost had a second opportunity, but David Pastrnak was called for a roughing penalty, and (shockingly) even TNT’s Brian Boucher agreed the call was egregious. 

“We talked to be more direct, honestly,” David Pastrnak said about the power play. “Try to be more aggressive, have guys around the net, so there is [an] opportunity to take shots. It’s a good power play goal. Too bad we didn’t create more power plays, but again that goes with, you know, trying to maybe take the puck to the net and to those gritty areas where you can create more penalties and more goal scoring opportunities.”

The Flyers had five power plays and scored on a 5-on-3 in overtime. The Bruins killed all three in regulation. Geekie went to the box for throwing his stick to Charlie McAvoy. 

“I meant to just pass it to him, and then I kind of fumbled it and just accidentally threw it,” Morgan Geekie said after the game. “I mean, it was my fault completely. I didn’t mean to throw it, I just tried to reach over and hand it. I just lost handle on it.” 

He also told reporters in Philadelphia that he had received that penalty before. On April 12, 2021, while Geekie was with the Hurricanes, he was called for a two-minute minor for throwing equipment. 

In an attempt to give Geekie a spark, Marco Sturm shuffled the lines. 

“I just didn’t like the way it went, a little bit, in the last few games with David and the young kids,” Sturm said. “Also, we needed to get [Geekie] going. I think that was the biggest point. They played together, and you know, this is the time now. This is the time to show up. So I wanted to give him another shot.”

The first line looked familiar; Geekie played alongside David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm. 

“It’s good, we had our opportunities. We turned it over a couple [of] times, unfortunately, but created a little bit,” Geekie said about the line. “I think we got more comfortable as the game went on. Obviously, we’ve played a little bit together in the past, so it’s easy to fall back on.”

The third line of Lukas Reichel, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov brought youth and speed. They finished with 10 shot attempts; they allowed five. 

“I think they did their job. They went behind, they kept pucks alive. [Khusnutdinov] is [Khusnutdinov], what he does. He’s a trusted man. [Minten], too,” Sturm said about the third line. “Philly is a rink, it feels a little bit wider than some other rinks. I remember that as a player. That was one of the reasons why I brought Lukas back in, just to maybe create some speed.”

By picking up a point, the Bruins (95) now hold a five-point lead on the Senators (90) for the first wild card and trail the Canadiens (100) by five for third place in the Atlantic Division. Their playoff odds increased to 98%, and the Magic Number is now four.

The Bruins are taking Monday off and will return from the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC, on Tuesday night. They will take on the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes (49-22-6). 

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