Bruins Take Down Flyers, Win Ninth-Straight Home Game

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins (32-20-3) completed their perfect January at home (9-0-0) with a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers (24-20-9) on Thursday night at the TD Garden. 

Six different players scored in the Bruins’ three-goal win. Viktor Arvidsson (13), Pavel Zacha (15), Fraser Minten (14), Casey Mittelstadt (11), Tanner Jeannot (6), and Marat Khusnutdinov (12) all notched a goal for the Bruins. Mittelstadt and Minten added two assists each, both finishing with three points on the night.

Jeremy Swayman faced 36 Flyers’ shots and made 33 saves. 

Much like their recent home games, the Bruins jumped out to a lead in the first period. 

Following an unsuccessful Bruins power play, the second line skated onto the ice. Fraser Minten played the puck to Casey Mittelstadt behind the goal line. Viktor Arvidsson crashed through the right circle and connected on a feed from Mittelstadt. Arvidsson’s shot beat Sam Ersson on his blocker side. 

The Bruins continued their pressure shortly after the opening goal. The first line moved into the offensive zone, and Morgan Geekie found Pavel Zacha in the slot. Zacha steered a shot on Ersson, which beat him high on his glove side for a two-goal lead. With the assist, Geekie extended his point streak to six games (5-3–8). 

The Bruins connected for two goals in 41 seconds. 

The Flyers scored, but Marco Sturm challenged for goaltender interference. The officials ruled that Nikita Grebenkin interfered with Jeremy Swayman on the Christian Dvorak shot. 

The Bruins skated into the intermission with a 2-0 lead and a 10-9 shots edge over the Flyers. 

Altogether, the second period featured five goals. 

Fraser Minten collected a feed from Casey Mittelstadt and drove into the offensive zone. Minten directed a shot that got through Ersson’s five-hole. His 14th tally of the season gave the Bruins a three-goal lead, their first of many in the second period. 

The Flyers got on the board with a Travis Konecny goal; this one did not get challenged. Konecny’s shot from the slot soundly beat Swayman near his glove.  

Later in the second period, Sam Ersson made a spectacular toe save on Andrew Peeke, but Casey Mittelstadt was crashing the net. Mittelstadt pulled the rebound to his backhand and fired it past Ersson to reclaim the Bruins three-goal lead.

Then, the Bruins expanded on their lead; Andrew Peeke teed off from the blue line and fired a shot toward the Flyers’ net. In front of the crease, Tanner Jeannot redirected the shot, and it got by Ersson. 

In the last minute of the second, Nikita Grebenkin collected Travis Konecny’s rebound and beat Swayman high. 

The Bruins took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission. They had to play the remainder of the game without Pavel Zacha, who exited in the second period with an upper-body injury. 

Also, Sam Ersson did not return to the game for the third period after suffering a lower-body injury. Dan Vladar, who was drafted by the Bruins in 2015, entered the game.

Nonetheless, the former Bruins goaltender stopped all six shots he faced against the club that drafted him. Then, Rick Tocchet pulled him for an extra attacker with 3:40 to play. 

As a result, Marat Khusnutdinov buried the puck into the empty net to give the Bruins a 6-2 lead. 

Lastly, fellow Russian Matvei Michkov scored at the 18:19 mark to make it, yet again, a three-goal game. 

The Bruins pack their bags and travel south to Florida, where cold weather is expected for a Stadium Series matchup with the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning (34-14-4).