5 Things: Flyers @ Bruins | Philadelphia Flyers

5 Things: Flyers @ Bruins | Philadelphia Flyers

Concluding their three-game season, John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers (11/12/3) are on the road to face Joe Sacco’s Boston Bruins (11/14/3) in a Saturday matinee. Game time at TD Garden is 1:00 p.m. EST.

The game will be broadcast locally on NBCSP and nationally (subject to blackout restrictions) on NHL Network. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with a 24-hour online simulcast on Flyers Radio.

This will be the third and final meeting between the Flyers and Bruins this season. The away team won the first two games. On October 29, the Flyers won 2-0 in Boston thanks to Samuel Ersson’s 23-save shutout and goals from Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee (empty net). On November 2nd at the Wells Fargo Center, the Bruins got their revenge with a 3-0 shutout against the Flyers.

In the last game, Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 20 shots he faced, while Ersson (eight saves on eight shots) had to leave the game midway through the first period with a lower-body injury. Aleksei Kolosov (20 saves on 22 shots went to the end).

Since then, Ersson has struggled with a recurring lower body problem. He returned for part of November but soon had to take a break again. Lately he has been training with the team and working towards a healthy return to the lineup.

This week, the Flyers were on a 4-0-1 run in their last five games heading into Thursday’s home game against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. In a shaky game in which the Flyers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to eventually take a 5-4 lead, Philly dropped a 7-5 decision.

Meanwhile, things have been hot for the Bruins since they fired head coach Jim Montgomery (now head coach of the St. Louis Blues) and promoted Sacco to interim coach. Boston is 4-1-1 in their last six games and have won each of their last three games.

Here are five things to keep in mind for Saturday’s game.

1. Farabee seeks redemption.

Flyers left winger Joel Farabee (three goals, six assists, nine points in 26 games) has had a frustrating season so far. He’s had several high-energy appearances lately, buzzing around the net and making aggressive accusations. He has also risen to the top of the Flyers in 5-on-5 play, playing alongside team captain Sean Couturier and top scorer Travis Konecny.

Nonetheless, Farabee continues to be weak offensively. In his last 11 games, Farabee has just two points (0g, 2a) to show for his efforts. Thursday’s game against the Panthers was a particularly stressful evening for the 24-year-old forward.

On the bright side, Farabee had plenty of puck touches throughout the game, logging a season-high 20:08 minutes of ice time in 26 shifts (which is his season-high for total shifts in a game). He had three shots on goal, bringing his total to 25 shots in the last eight games.

Also encouraging was Farabee providing a key assist on Foerster’s power play goal in the second period. During the game, Matvei Michkov played a pass from the right boards to Farabee at the back post. Farabee directed the puck to Foerster with his skate. The reliever ended a pointless seven-game losing streak for Farabee.

Unfortunately, with the score tied at 5-5, Farabee conceded a penalty at 17:32 of the third period while defending a teammate. On the ensuing power play, Florida scored the game-winning goal.

Before the game against the Bruins, Farabee will be looking for some redemption. Psychologically and practically, he could really use a breakout game where a puck or two goes into the net for him. The energy will be there. But the payoff also has to be there.

2. Tippett and Michkov find chemistry.

The team of Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost and rookie Matvei Michkov showed promising results in training camp and pre-season. When the regular season began, Tippett and Frost in particular were struggling. The line was soon disbanded due to juggling with serial line combinations.

The line has been reunited in most of the Flyers’ last six games. Frost entered the game against Florida with four points (2g, 2a) in five games. Tippett scored against the BIues on a 2-on-1 rush off a great pass from the red-hot Michkov. Against Florida, Michkov Tippett assisted on two goals in a single second-half shift as the Flyers erased a 4-2 deficit to score the equalizer.

Tippett’s first tally against Florida – a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle – began with Frost losing a faceoff just outside the attacking blueline. A forward-thinking Tippett forced a Blues turnover in the St. Louis zone. Michkov pounced on the puck and set up Tippett to score to cut the 4-2 deficit to 4-3.

The latter goal came after a rather unsuccessful move. After receiving a feed from Michkov in transition, Tippett attempted a cross-seam pass to Frost near the net. The pass attempt was blocked, but the puck went straight back to Tippett, who scored the equalizer.

Tippett, who had a frustrating single afternoon against the Rangers in the Flyers’ Black Friday win, has now scored three goals in his last two games. Michkov had the first (or only) assist for all three.

3. Personnel deployment: Tortorella is strongly oriented towards the couturier line

Tortorella was forced to shorten the bench for much of the third period of Thursday’s game, with the Flyers leading 5-4 after Garnet Hathaway’s go-ahead shot and Florida’s 4-on-4 marker made the score 5-5.

At times during the final stanza, the Flyers used two (or more accurately two-plus) lines: the trio of Farabee, Couturier and Farabee and center Ryan Poehling’s line. Noah Cates and Tippett were also mixed and combined into some combos. Michkov, Frost and Bobby Brink spent most of the third period on the bench as the game played 5-on-5.

In fact, in each of the last three games, the Flyers have frequently used the Couturier line on nearly every other shift during crunch time.

Although the Flyers have a back-to-back set over the weekend (they host Utah on Sunday) and are in the second game of a three-in-four set, all they can worry about on Saturday is winning the game ahead. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if Couturier’s line plays very heavy minutes again with Konecny. Tippett and/or Foerster could see time on the left wing on some shifts, which meant Farabee.

4. Flyers special teams need a big game.

Through the first eight games of the regular season, the power play provided much of the team’s goal production. Since then, the power game has been difficult. Power play coach Rocky Thompson has optimized the combinations of the first and second units. Many of these topics were discussed on Thursday’s edition of “5 Things.”

In Thursday’s game the score was 1:4 on the power play. The first and third opportunities for the man advantage were difficult to organize. The fourth round was canceled out by an interference penalty from Brink, which resulted in Gustav Forsling drawing the game 5-5, with the teams playing 4 against 4 men.

The Flyers’ penalty kill, a team strength last season and through the first 10 weeks of this season, faltered in the final two weeks of November and the first week of December.

Against Florida, the shootout was the toughest game in several years. The Panthers’ red-hot power play gave the Flyers PK four goals on five opportunities. Getting the PK back on track against the Bruins is a top priority, as is minimizing the time spent taking penalties in the first place.

5. Behind Enemy Lines: Keep an eye on Pastrnak

Every team in the NHL meets with the Bruins to keep superstar sharpshooter David Pastrnak in check. That’s especially true for the Flyers, who have often been punished in recent years for multi-point (often multi-goal) explosions from Boston’s leading scorer.

In the first game of the season against Boston, the 2-0 away win, Pastrnak remained calm despite three shots on goal. A few nights later, Pastrnak was more actively involved, but stayed off the scoresheet until a late-game assist on an empty net by longtime Flyers nemesis Brad Marchand.

This season, Pastrnak scored nine goals (four on the power play), 17 assists and 26 points in 28 games. Lately, Pastrnak has shown signs of regaining his momentum offensively. He has four points (1g, 3a) in his last three games and seven points (six via assists) in his last five games.

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