If Saturday’s Bruins game left you scratching your head, let me assure you that you weren’t alone.
A week after the Bruins hung a six-spot on the Flyers (and for the second time in as many head-to-heads to that point), Saturday saw the Bruins struggle to generate much of anything on Philadelphia. They had just six shots through 20 minutes, and 13 through 40 minutes of play. But the biggest problem of all was the goose egg on the scoreboard, with Boston held off the board entirely through two periods of play, and until the 10:19 mark of the third period when Justin Brazeau finally broke through and put the Black and Gold on the board with a strong net-front finish for his fourth goal in his last three outings.
And beginning with the Brazeau, the Bruins and Flyers combined for four goals over the next 8:12 of action, but it was the Flyers who struck last, and by all means stunned the Bruins with what was a definite low-percentage look.
Third Star: Linus Ullmark
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – FEBRUARY 26: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the second period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on February 26, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Going back to the confusion of this one, that really begins and ends with the play of B’s netminder Linus Ullmark.
By all accounts, it was not a strong finish from the B’s 6-foot-5 netminder. His third period included one, maybe even two goals that he would want back. You could even see Ullmark tossing out some choice words in frustration when the Bruins pulled him for the extra skater late in the third period. He knew it wasn’t his best goal against. But Ullmark was also the sole reason that the Bruins were even still in this game after two periods of play, as the B’s simply refused to help their goaltender in any fashion, either in their own zone or with an offensive push at the other end.
When the Bruins were down by one in the second period, Ullmark made sure the bleeding stopped at one and came through with a tremendous breakaway save with 30 seconds left in the period. Allowing a goal there would’ve been an absolute deathblow to the Bruins after two periods of play. In the third period, Ullmark came up with a big stop mere moments before Brazeau knotted things up. And even when the sides were knotted up at 2-2, Ullmark came up with a gigantic stop on a breakaway look from the Flyers’ Owen Tippett (Tippett entered that game with goals in three of his last four outings and was absolutely feeling it from an offensive standpoint all day long).
So while it wasn’t the best finish for Ullmark, there’s no denying that he (and he alone) put the Bruins in position to even be in this game through two periods of play and in the third period of play.
Second Star: Travis Konecny
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 21: Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates with the puck against the Ottawa Senators at the Wells Fargo Center on January 21, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
It was a two-goal day for the Flyers’ Travis Konecny.
The Bruins by all means gifted Konecny his first one of the afternoon, as the Bruins got entirely too aggressive on their penalty kill — both Matt Grzelcyk and then Charlie McAvoy jumped up and into the action and essentially vacated the slot — and allowed Konecny to simply chill all by himself to the right of Linus Ullmark’s net for his first goal.
Konecny breaks the ice on the powerplay 🚨 pic.twitter.com/exeWLsQr9h
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 23, 2024And on the second goal, Konecny did a solid job of using his body and a B’s defenseman to slightly shield the puck before he fired a deceptive-looking shot on goal and through Ullmark for Philly’s second goal of the afternoon.
First Star: Tyson Foerster
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – FEBRUARY 10: Tyson Foerster #71 of the Flyers makes his way onto the ice prior to the game against the Seattle Kraken at the Wells Fargo Center on February 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Philadelphia forward Tyson Foerster’s game-winning goal had a pretty solid helping hand from the B’s Danton Heinen, and again it was on a shot and goal that Ullmark would want back, but this kid was all over the ice in this game.
Deployed for 19:10 of time on ice, Foerster recorded a goal and assist in the win, and also recorded three hits and a block.
