Flyers Close Preseason with Win Over Bruins

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

As the third period progressed, you could see the Flyers starting to show signs that they are ready to turn the page and get the regular season started.

It wasn't a pretty game from start to finish, but a strong third period led the Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Bruins in the preseason finale on Saturday from TD Garden.

The Flyers got off to a much better start in this game, opening up a 5-0 lead in shots. One of those chances beat Tuukka Rask.

Off some nice work behind the net, Mikhail Vorobyev centered to Taylor Leier in the slot and his quick release beat Rask through the five-hole to give the Flyers the lead at 5:21.

The Flyers had to kill a Bruins power play midway through the period and the two teams traded penalties late in the period for 4-on-4 play and abbreviated power plays.

The Flyers held a 7-6 advantage in shots after 20 minutes.

The Bruins dominated the second period, outshooting the Flyers, 14-3, in the middle 20 minutes. The Flyers had to kill off a penalty in the period as well. The Flyers were able to survive with a lot of help from Brian Elliott.

The Flyers took another penalty early in the third and the Bruins finally made them pay for the undisciplined play. A point shot from David Pastrnak was deflected by Ryan Donato, providing a huge screen on Elliott in front, to tie the game at 5:10 of the third.

Moments later, the Flyers were back on the penalty kill with Oskar Lindblom in the box for delay of game. Just 11 seconds into the power play, it was the Flyers getting a shorthanded goal.

Off the face-off, the puck hopped on Charlie McAvoy and went down the ice. McAvoy lost the race with Jori Lehtera, who caught up to the loose puck finally in the corner and centered for Michael Raffl, who scored to put the Flyers back on top.

With time starting to wind down in the period, the Flyers were finally able to pad their lead after a couple of close chances on the power play. Back at even strength with under six minutes to play, Wayne Simmonds was able to get his own rebound and tuck it in by Rask for a goal in his first preseason appearance to make it 3-1 Flyers.

The Flyers continued a strong close-out period with another goal with 1:21 remaining. Leier's speed created a two-on-one and he centered to Raffl, who went to the backhand to score and make it 4-1 to cap the scoring.

Elliott finished with 26 saves on 27 shots. Rask stopped 20 shots in the defeat.

Five Flyers finished with multi-point games. Raffl had two goals. Simmonds and Leier had a goal and an assist. Vorobyev and Lehtera each had two assists.

The Flyers next time on the ice will be for the regular-season opener, coming on Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Game time is set for 10 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Taylor Leier (1) (Mikhail Vorobyev, Wayne Simmonds) 5:21

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• BOS Ryan Donato (2) PP (David Pastrnak, Urho Vaakanainen) 5:10
• PHI Michael Raffl (1) SH (Jori Lehtera) 6:48
• PHI Simmonds (1) (Vorobyev, Phil Myers) 14:12
• PHI Raffl (2) (Leier, Lehtera) 18:39

Game Statistics