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Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Bruins fight back, but fall to Flyers late in regulation

By Ty Anderson
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 27: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins and Noah Cates #27 of the Philadelphia Flyers challenge for the puck during the second period at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

In what was looking like another lost night at the offensive end of the rink, and held off the board through two periods of play, the third-period Bruins fought back from two separate third-period deficits, and gave the club some much-needed life.

But in the end, a Tyson Foerster goal sniped over Linus Ullmark’s left shoulder with 1:29 remaining in regulation made the difference for the Flyers in what was a 3-2 win over the Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center.

With the loss, the Bruins have suffered back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since the back-to-back regulation losses that led up to the Christmas break, where the Bruins themselves acknowledged that there game was its bottom.

  • And in what was a confounding game if there ever was one, this loss saw Ullmark come up short in the third period after by all means carrying the Bruins for the first 50 minutes of the game (and even after that), with countless big-time saves on a desperate Flyers team that simply never relented.

  • Finishing the game with 26 saves, Ullmark came through with multiple breakaway saves, with his two biggest coming in the waning moments of the middle frame, and another in the third period on an Owen Tippett look tied-and-late.

    But for as good as Ullmark was in this one (he was credited with stops on 11 of the 12 high-danger shots the Flyers threw his way), it was the ‘low-danger looks’ that put him in trouble, with two low-danger goals against.

    It was an absolutely Jekyll & Hyde kind of day from No. 35, really, as it’s undeniably tough to lay into the third-period performance too much when you look at how he kept the B’s in it when they had absolutely no juice.

    And similar to Jeremy Swayman’s night against the Rangers on Thursday, the Bruins did little to truly help their goaltender. Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy were entirely too aggressive on the penalty kill that left Travis Konecny all alone in front of the Boston net and put the Flyers on the board for their first goal of the evening, while a Danton Heinen no-look backhand was intercepted and helped spark the rush that led to the game-winning goal from Foerster.

  • Oct 2, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Justin Brazeau (55) against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

    Oct 2, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Justin Brazeau (55) against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. (Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports)

    Unable to generate much of anything, the Bruins finally broke through with something tangible in this game with a goal from (who else but?) Justin Brazeau, scored at the 10:19 mark of the third period.

    The goal was enough to give Brazeau strikes in three straight games, making him the first Boston rookie to score in three straight games since Brad Marchand accomplished the feat in Jan. 2011. Overall, Brazeau is just the fourth player to accomplish the feat since 2005-06, joining a group featuring Marchand, David Krejci, and Brad Boyes.

  • Boston’s other goal in the losing effort came off the stick of Heinen, and with tremendous passing efforts from Jake DeBrusk in the neutral zone to get Boston a clean offensive zone entry and an even better look from Morgan Geekie.

    The goal was Heinen’s 14th of the season, and similar to how we look at Ullmark, it’s difficult to absolutely hammer him for the mess-up that led to Philadelphia’s third goal when look at how it was Heinen who put the Bruins in position to win this game in the first place. Hockey, man. It can be cruel and unforgiving.

  • PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 27: Parker Wotherspoon #29 of the Boston Bruins greets teammates before playing against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

    PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 27: Parker Wotherspoon #29 of the Bruins greets teammates before playing against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

    On the backend, the Bruins took their first look at a Mason Lohrei and Andrew Peeke pairing after what was three straight healthy scratches for Lohrei. With Lohrei in, Kevin Shattenkirk and Parker Wotherspoon sat as the Black and Gold’s healthy scratches on the backend. Up front, James van Riemsdyk returned to action after missing the last two games, which bumped Johnny Beecher out of the B’s lineup as the healthy scratch up front.

    The Bruins will return home for a Sunday off day and a Monday practice before traveling down to Florida for what will be a back-to-back against the Panthers and Lightning.

Click here for 98.5 The Sports Hub’s complete coverage of the Bruins. 

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.

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