Bruins can’t get it firing in 3-1 loss to Flyers

The Bruins were going to need more than one goal to beat the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. But getting even just one on ex-Bruins netminder Daniel Vladar took everything the Bruins had, and ultimately came too little too late in a 3-1 loss for the Bruins at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The loss put an end to what was an eight-game point streak (5-0-3) for the Bruins, and was their first regulation loss since a 6-2 loss in Dallas on Jan. 20.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy scored the only goal for the Bruins, which came with the club down by two and with just 6:57 remaining in the game, while Vladar stopped 26 of 27 shots faced for his 18th win of the season.

Pushing and pushing against Vladar, the Bruins thought they took a 1-0 lead on a Hampus Lindholm shot just 65 seconds into the third period. But the goal was immediately called off by the officials as it was deemed that Mikey Eyssimont made too much contact with Vladar a moment before Lindholm's shot was fired.

And, of course, it would take less than three minutes for that disallowed goal to come back and bite the Bruins, and with an assist to the Philly boards.

On the wrong end of a bad bounce, a dump-in careened right out to the slot, where Travis Konecny finished a feed from Christian Dvorak for a 1-0 lead.

Philly doubled that lead at the midway point of the period when Jamie Drysdale had all the time in the world to take advantage of a defensive-zone breakdown and put himself between the circles for a snipe on Jeremy Swayman.

In the Boston net, Swayman finished with two goals on 16 shots faced, but was certainly better than the box score would've indicated. Swayman made a number of big-time stops on the Flyers in the opening period of play, as the Bruins had a downright sleepy start, especially from high-danger areas.

Instead, this loss really came back to what was a gigantic missed opportunity of a second period, as the Bruins outshot Philly by a 16-3 mark but failed to get anything by Vladar on the way to a 0-0 tie through 40 minutes of play.

The Bruins' Morgan Geekie, while held off the board, certainly had Boston's best looks in the losing effort, and finished with a team-leading five shots.

On the backend, Andrew Peeke was a healthy scratch for the second straight game, and with the trade deadline less than a week away. Peeke, a pending unrestricted free agent, has been named as someone who could be moved by the Bruins between now and Friday's deadline depending on how they approach this deadline. Perhaps especially if they look at this deadline as one where they do a little bit of buying and a little bit of selling.

The Bruins will get back to work Tuesday night when they host the Penguins.