By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Flyers were plagued by the sudden-death skills competition again. After battling the Bruins for 65 minutes, the shootout proved to again be their downfall.
Goals by Danton Heinin and Jake Debrusk in the shootout helped the Bruins beat the Flyers, 4-3, on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Bruins came out strong and opened the scoring just 2:56 into the game. A turnaround shot by David Pastrnak was deflected twice on its way in on goal. David Backes got a piece first before Heinen tipped it in past Michal Neuvirth.
Six minutes later, after tremendous pressure from the Flyers top line of Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and Nick Cousins, the Flyers second line kept the pressure on an evened the score.
Jake Voracek, making his preseason debut, carried the puck behind the net and worked his way out front into the slot. A backhand shot by Voracek hit the post, but Sean Couturier was there to put home the rebound to make it 1-1 at 8:54.
The Flyers and Bruins would each get two power play chances over the remainder of the period. The Flyers had four shots on their two power plays, but could not beat Malcolm Subban despite some great possession and close chances. The Bruins had just one shot on the power play in the period.
The Bruins opened the scoring early in the second. At 4:22, Pastrnak used a few head fakes to work on a defender and then slid a shot off Neuvirth's pad and in to give Boston the lead again.
The Flyers tied things up two minutes later at 6:39. Ivan Provorov fed Jordan Weal with a perfect lead pass and Weal beat Subban on the breakaway chance to even the score.
Just over two minutes later, at 8:42, the Flyers took the lead on the power play. Wayne Simmonds held the puck in along the blue line and got a pass to Shayne Gostisbehere. Gostisbehere found Schenn with a quick pass and he hit a cutting Travis Konecny. Konecny's shot was stopped, but Schenn was there to gather the rebound and score.
The Bruins tied the game back up at three with 3:12 remaining in the period. A neutral-zone turnover sent the Bruins the other way and Backes set up Pastrnak for a one-timer, beating Neuvirth and giving Pastrnak his second of the game.
With the game tied entering the third, shots came a premium for both sides in the final 20 minutes. The game would go to overtime still tied, 3-3.
In overtime, the Bruins got two breakaway attempts, each by Austin Czarnik. Both times, Neuvirth was up to the task. The Flyers started the overtime killing off the remainder of a tripping penalty to Couturier. They played the final 1:21 on the power play, but failed to score, sending the game to a shootout.
The Flyers took the early lead in the shootout with a goal by Weal. But the Bruins answered with goals by Heinen and Debrusk to claim the victory. Konecny and Nick Cousins failed to score on their attempts.
The Flyers outshot the Bruins, 32-28.
The Flyers return to the ice on Monday night to host the New York Rangers. The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
