Bruins come back in third period to beat Flyers in overtime
The Boston Bruins came back from a two-goal deficit in the third period and beat the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime by a 4-3 final on Saturday at TD Garden.
Pavel Zacha scored the game-winner for the Bruins in the extra time, finishing a cross-ice pass from
David Pastrnak. That marks the second time in three games that Zacha scored an OT winner and that Pastrnak got the assist.
Zacha now has six points in as many games dating back to Nov. 27, as it seems that he’s found his scoring touch under interim head coach Joe Sacco.
The first several minutes of this game were fairly nondescript, until the Bruins’ Mark Kastelic got whistled for a tripping penalty. Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov made Kastelic pay, blasting a one-timer through Swayman just 11 seconds into the ensuing power play, giving Philly a 1-0 lead.
Michkov struck again later in the first period, as he snuck down on the back side unaccounted for, and received a perfect pass from Travis Seinhem at the half wall for a tap-in goal, making it 2-0 Flyers.
The Bruins made it a one-goal game early in the early part of the second period, at the tail end of a power play. Trent Frederic cleaned up the rebound off a point shot by defenseman Mason Lohrei for his fourth goal of the season. Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov had robbed the Bruins’ Morgan Geekie on a scoring chance just seconds before the score.
The Flyers would soon respond and re-extend their lead. This time it came off the stick of defenseman Cam York, who bombed it from the high slot and through all kinds of traffic to beat Swayman and make it 3-1 Flyers.
History repeated itself early in the third period. Very recent history, that is. Frederic once again made it a one-goal game, once again from the slot on a rebound, to cap an energetic couple of shifts for the B’s and make it 3-2 Flyers.
The Bruins picked up momentum after Frederic’s second goal, overtaking the lead in shots on goal and drawing a pair of penalties. They didn’t cash in on their power plays, but captain Brad Marchand made things happen at five-on-five.
Taking advantage of a great long-range bank pass by Justin Brazeau, Marchand snuck behind the Philly defense and gathered the loose puck for an all-alone scoring bid, and he finished, tying the game 3-3 with just 5:22 to go in regulation. Marchand is now on pace for 31 goals this season.
Up Next: The Bruins are facing a tough stretch of the schedule ahead. They will travel out west for a five-game road trip next week, starting with the Winnipeg Jets (19-8) next Tuesday night.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
