BOSTON – The Flyers put on an inspired rally late in Saturday night’s game against the Bruins but came up a goal short. So much for moral victories.
Philadelphia got late goals from Nick Deslauriers, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee but a collapse by the Flyers early in the third period made the mountain too high to climb in a 6-5 loss at TD Garden.
With the teams tied at 2-2 going into the final frame, Boston needed only 68 seconds to take the lead and followed that up with two more, registering three goals in two minutes and 56 seconds.
Later, the Flyers made it interesting. Deslauriers scored his first goal of the season with 4:48 to play and Frost quickly followed with a nifty goal just a minute and two seconds later.
But Boston responded with a goal from Danton Heinen with 2:59 to play. Finally, Farabee scored to make the final outcome close.
In evaluating this game, everyone from the coach to the players agreed this effort was a step in the right direction, even if the result was not what they wanted.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Frost said. “I thought we played a pretty good game. No matter how many goals we’re down, we always believe we can come back. You saw the fight we had there at the end, that’s encouraging. . .going into the rest of the stretch (on the schedule) which is super tough.”
Aside from that early third period burst by Boston, the Flyers were pretty satisfied with the way the played.
“We keep putting ourselves in good position,” Frost said. “Just kind of have to find that break late in the game to seal it. I thought we did a good job coming back but it’s tough to come all the way back.”
Sean Couturier said that while the overall effort was encouraging, the letdown at the start of the third was unacceptable.
“Obviously it’s disappointing,” he said. “A tough stretch there to start the third but we had some fight, climbed our way back, just too late I guess.”
Coach John Tortorella indicated while the late comeback was praiseworthy, he’s not interested in moral victories at this point in the season.
“We’re just not deep enough right now,” the coach said. “We just can’t have ‘Sanny’ (Travis Sanheim) or ‘Yorkie’ (Cam York) in the penalty box (both took minors during the game) for any time of the game with how thin we are on our back end.
“I thought we had a lot of good minutes, I thought we had patience to our game. We just couldn’t sustain for a full 60. We have to be really careful with the moral victories here. I appreciate how hard we worked but we have to find a way to get points. Certainly not enough important guys are going consistently.”
The second of two Charlie Coyle goals broke the tie. Coyle took a pass from David Pastrnak, broke down the left side and beat goalie Felix Sandstrom with a shot just under the crossbar.
Shortly after, John Beecher scored off the rush at 3:45, then Jake DeBrusk put a puck past Sandstrom at 4:04 and that was that.
The teams traded goals in the second period, which finished in a 2-2 tie.
Both teams scored on the power play. First, Farabee tipped in a Cam York point shot at 12:01. It was Farabee’s 20th goal of the season and the second time he’s reached the 20-goal mark in his five-year career.
Boston responded at 15:22. Pavel Zacha beat Scott Laughton on a left circle draw. He relayed to Brad Marchand who spotted Coyle open in front and Sandstrom had no chance.
A goal by Ryan Poehling gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 4:18 of the first period. Poehling finished off a two-on-one rush with Garnet Hathaway with a shot past goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
The Bruins rallied to it at 15:41. After Travis Konecny missed on a short break-in, the Bruins rushed the other way. Morgan Geekie connected from the right circle with a shot which eluded Sandstrom.
When it was over, the Flyers had to look at this as a missed opportunity against one of the league’s better teams.
“It’s a tough building to play in,” Farabee said. “They can rev up the building here and it can get tough. Ultimately, that’s probably the reason we lost. You can’t give up three goals in however long it was. You just shoot yourself in the foot.”
Added Sandstrom: “To lose a game like this, I’m not happy at all about that. They got a tough push at the beginning of the third which hurt us a little bit. We battled back good but a little too late I think.”
>Van Riemsdyk honored for his 1,000th
Former Flyer forward James van Riemsdyk, now playing for Boston, was honored for playing in his 1,000th NHL game in pre-game ceremonies.
JVR also spent six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs but played the most games with the Flyers (527). He was the second overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft behind Patrick Kane, who went to Chicago.
>Short shots
The Flyers are off until Tuesday, when they host a rematch game against the Maple Leafs. . .Bobby Brink was a healthy scratch. . .After several games in exile on the fourth line, captain Sean Couturier was back centering a first line with Farabee and Konecny for this game. . .Flyers wore the Stadium Series uniforms they used in the outdoor game against New Jersey back in February.
