Atkinson’s 2 Goals Help Flyers Down Bruins

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Early in the season, and with so many new faces, the Flyers matchup with the Boston Bruins was an opportunity to see just where the team stood. In a game that certainly featured some hiccups, the Flyers stayed the course and used a big third period to secure a win.

Cam Atkinson scored two goals in the game, a 6-3 victory for the Flyers, on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Boston had control early, opening up a 7-1 lead in shots in the first several minutes. But when the Flyers got a scoring chance just over eight minutes into the period, they took advantage.

Derick Brassard made a lead pass to Atkinson, starting a two-on-one. Atkinson kept it himself, firing on goal and beating Jeremy Swayman to make it 1-0.

The Flyers killed off a power play for the Bruins midway through the period, but Boston would get the equalizer with just over three minutes left in the period. A turnover by Nicolas Aube-Kubel allowed Boston to gain control and Trent Frederic's bid on goal was blocked by the skate of Travis Sanheim and went right to Karson Kuhlman at the side of the net for a slam-dunk goal.

A late power play for the Flyers afforded them the opportunity to get the lead back, and they did just in time. With 8.9 seconds remaining in the period, Joel Farabee was able to pick up a rebound in front, making it 2-1 with his third goal of the season.

Shots through 20 minutes of play were 10-7 Boston.

The Flyers picked up another early goal in the second to pad the lead. Off a set play, Keith Yandle dumped the puck into the zone and James van Riemsdyk beat out the icing call. He threw a shot on goal that left a big rebound in the slot for Scott Laughton, who put it through the legs of Swayman to make it 3-1.

For much of the rest of the period, the Bruins generated more opportunities, finishing with 18 shots to the Flyers 10 in the period. Two costly mistakes allowed them to get the game tied.

At 8:38, the Flyers got caught in a line change and that allowed Taylor Hall to get behind the defense. He went top shelf on the breakaway to make it 3-2.

Then with just over a minute left in the period, the Flyers fourth line got caught on the ice after an icing. That allowed the Bruins to create a matchup nightmare and put their top line on the ice. Seconds later, they scored as Brad Marchand got a rebound after a David Pastrnak wrap-around attempt to make it 3-3 with a minute to go.

It took just 58 seconds of third-period play for the Flyers to get right back on top. Atkinson struck again off an odd-man rush for his second goal of the game and third of the season.

As the Bruins attempted to make their push, another opportunity allowed the Flyers to get some insurance. For the third straight game, Travis Konecny got on the board with a snipe from the high slot to make it 5-3 with 8:43 to play.

Late in the third, the Bruins took a roughing penalty that essentially sealed the game. For good measure, Sean Couturier added his first goal of the season into the empty net to cap the scoring. 

Martin Jones made 37 saves in his Flyers debut, picking up the win. Swayman made 19 saves in the defeat.

Farabee, Atkinson, Brassard, Couturier, and Yandle each had multi-point games for the Flyers. Charlie McAvoy had two assists.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Saturday night for the final game of the four-game homestand against the Florida Panthers at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Cam Atkinson (2) (Derick Brassard, Justin Braun) 8:08
• BOS Karson Kuhlman (1) (Trent Frederic, Tomas Nosek) 16:48
• PHI Joel Farabee (3) PP (Brassard, Ryan Ellis) 19:51

2nd Period

• PHI Scott Laughton (1) (James van Riemsdyk, Keith Yandle) 1:58
• BOS Taylor Hall (1) (Charlie McAvoy) 8:38
• BOS Brad Marchand (3) (David Pastrnak, McAvoy) 19:00

3rd Period

• PHI Atkinson (3) (Farabee) 0:58
• PHI Travis Konecny (3) (Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux) 11:17
• PHI Couturier (1) PP-EN (Yandle) 19:01

Game Statistics