Bruins drop third straight preseason contest

Another road preseason tilt for the Bruins came with yet another sluggish effort from the club, as the Bruins surrendered three straight goals against en route to a 3-1 loss to the Flyers at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

“We just weren’t sharp," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said following the loss. "I didn’t think we won enough battles. I didn’t think our puck support was quick enough offensively or defensively to get back on offense and in turn, we just didn’t generate enough opportunities in the offensive zone because very rarely did we have the puck there.”

To Montgomery's point, the Bruins were held to just 14 shots in the loss, and 11 before the Bruins decided to pull Jeremy Swayman for the extra attacker and a 6-on-5 advantage late in the third period of play.

The lone positive at the offensive end of the rink came in the first period, really, and off the stick of Morgan Geekie.

On the power play in the opening frame, Geekie drove towards the net and took a terrific feed from Charlie Coyle to beat the Flyers' Samuel Ersson at the 14:50 mark of the period. The goal also came with a secondary helper from prospect Matt Poitras, who outright refuses to fade out of frame and return to the OHL without a fight.

But beyond that, this was a game where the Bruins certainly wanted and expected more fight from some of their tweeners looking to make a lasting impression on Montgomery & Co. with the preseason nearing its end.

2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell started his evening in a premier spot with Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle, but failed to make much of anything happen with that chance, and was demoted by the third period. Lysell, who was relatively quiet in his 2023 preseason debut, too, finished with two shots and was whistled for a high-sticking penalty in the first period.

Swayman went start to finish in this contest, and finished with 21 saves on 24 shots faced. Swayman was especially sharp on the penalty kill, with four saves on as many shots thrown his way by the Philly power play.

With the loss, the Bruins dropped to 1-2-1 on the preseason, and will look to win their second game of the warm-up slate when the Capitals come to TD Garden on Tuesday night.

With the training camp skates and sessions entering their final days, a trek down to Philadelphia for the fourth game of the preseason did not come without some pre-flight cuts made by Jim Montgomery and the Bruins.

For the Bruins, it was their fourth round of cuts in the last five days, and came with up front and in goal. That follows Sunday's trend, too, which saw two forwards cut from a camp while goaltender Michael DiPietro hit the waiver wire.

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Up front, the Bruins confirmed that offseason signing John Farinacci has been reassigned down to the AHL, where he'll skate with the P-Bruins for the start of their training camp.

And in the crease, the team has placed a goalie on waivers for the second day in a row, this time with Kyle Keyser hitting the waiver wire in an attempt to pass him through the wire and down to the minors.

Keyser's trip to the waiver wire comes after just one preseason appearance this fall, and with two goals surrendered on 22 shots faced in last week's loss to the Sabres. Keyser's appearance lasted about half the game, and also featured a relatively strong performance at even-strength play, with stops on 15 of 16 shots faced.

The Florida-born Keyser also served as the backup to Brandon Bussi in Boston's preseason opener, and was the backup to Linus Ullmark in last Friday's shootout loss to the Flyers.

The 24-year-old Keyser has made four preseason appearances over the last three warm-up slates for the Bruins, and has posted a .916 save percentage over that span, with stops on all but four of the 48 shots he's faced.

Battling for minutes with Bussi and Keith Kinkaid a year ago, Keyser posted a career-high 13 wins in 24 games with AHL Providence last season, and has compiled a 28-25-11 record and .904 save percentage in 68 games with the P-Bruins since the start of the 2019-20 season.

Given his lack of any sort of experience at the NHL level, it feels unlikely that Keyser gets claimed by a team, which sets him up for yet another year of pushing for minutes with Bussi.

And in somewhat related goaltending news, the good news for the Bruins is that DiPietro, who hit the waiver wire Sunday, cleared on Monday and will report to Providence.

Farinacci, meanwhile, becomes just the latest forward sent to Providence's camp, with 2021 third-round pick Brett Harrison demoted on Sunday afternoon.

Signed as an NCAA free agent back in August, Farinacci didn't exactly pop off the page in his limited preseason viewing, with 11:39 of time on ice in last Friday's shootout loss to the Flyers. Farinacci was solid at the dot in that contest, though, with wins in seven of his 12 battles at the dot.

Speaking earlier this camp, the 22-year-old Farinacci said that he was more than OK with starting in the AHL if the Bruins felt that that was the best course of his action for his long-term growth with the club.

Farinacci, who is related to the Donato family, is turning pro after a three-year run at Harvard, with 25 goals and 61 points in 79 games with the Crimson from 2019 through 2023. Farinacci’s 2022-23 campaign included five goals and 19 points in 20 games, as Farinacci dealt with a herniated disc that ultimately required surgery and prevented him from making his season debut until Jan. 13.

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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.