Boston Flummoxes Flyers in 6-0 Victory

        Continuing their emphatic return following a 3-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken, the Boston Bruins (34-5-4) overwhelm the Philadelphia Flyers (18-19-7) with an offensive onslaught and a final score of 6-0.  Just coming off what is being heralded as “Game of the Year” where a late goal from defenseman Matt Grzeclyk gave Boston the lead and victory over divisional rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins sought to maintain their momentum and separate themselves further in the standings from Toronto. 

 

Monday’s tilt was centerman David Krejci’s 1,000th played in the NHL - all with Boston.  Krejci’s tenure in Boston has managed to be both prolific and understated.  Krejci currently sits between Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman for the 9th most points in Boston Bruins history.  His points total being heavily skewed towards assists (226-538-764) is indicative of the Czechia born veteran’s playstyle as an elite playmaker.  A humble, often quiet man, Krejci was noticeably uncomfortable to have the spotlight upon him as the team and TD Garden patrons honored him with an early game ovation.  With his head down, ever focused on the task before him, Krejci used his 1,000th game as a reminder that despite now being 36 years old, and missing a year of NHL hockey to play in his home country, he hasn’t lost a step.

1ST PERIOD

The scoring broke open 4:38 into the opening period as a failed clearing attempt from Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo allowed Krejci to saucer a pass to linemate Pavel Zacha, whose patience and well placed pass gave David Pastrnak an easy layup for his 34th goal on the year.  Zacha, fresh off a 4 year and $19 million extension, would ultimately tally three points this game, almost on cue as to quell any doubts that this price may have been too high despite being on pace for a career high 53 points.  

With 4:55 remaining in the first period, Krejci entered the offensive zone, delivering yet another pass to Zacha whose off-balance one timer brought him to the ice, and the puck to the back of the net, with a demonstrative ping off the left post giving Boston a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.  “CASH. REGISTER.” - Jack Edwards

2ND PERIOD

With Jake DeBrusk, presently on the LTIR for an upper body injury sustained during the Winter Classic, joining the broadcast team, the Bruins entered the second period and extended their lead further only 3:55 in.  A blueline bomb from defenseman Matt Grzeclyk found its way to the front of the net, where a battling Brad Marchand fought to backhand a shot under Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, upping the score to 3-0 Boston.  Marchand now has 3 goals and 4 assists in his last five games, and sits second on the team in both assists (26) and points (40) behind David Pastrnak (35G-27A-62P).  

Poetically, 46 seconds later #46 himself would pick up another assist. Krejci intercepted an outlet pass from Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler in the neutral zone, reentered the Flyers end and delivered a pass to Zacha.  Zacha’s return pass to Krejci made contact with Seeler, making its way past Hart for Boston’s 4th goal of the game.  Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella then made the call to pull Carter Hart in favor of backup goaltender Sam Ersson.  At 23 years old, this is Ersson’s first season in the NHL and only his sixth appearance in net.

3RD PERIOD

Penalties late in the second period against Boston’s Nick Foligno and Flyers forwards Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost gave Boston a 4-on-3, and then brief 5-on-4, powerplay to begin the 3rd.  Just as Foligno and Konecny left the penalty box,  a pass from Brad Marchand met the stick of David Pastrnak, whose one-timer from the left circle blasted past Ersson farside for Boston’s first powerplay goal of the game, and 5th unanswered tally.  Marchand’s pass appears to have been intended for David Krejci, but the stick of Philly’s Ivan Provorov redirected its trajectory to that of the all alone, locked and loaded, Pastrnak - the puck hitting the net before Ersson could even extend his glove.

Nearly halfway through the third period, Bruins forward A.J. Greer sent Tony DeAngelo to the ice on a strong check against the corner boards.  Nicolas Deslauriers of the Flyers took exception to the hit, and quickly chased after Greer, dropping the gloves.  Greer did not engage Deslauriers in fisticuffs, but both were assessed 10 minute misconducts - Greer’s second game in a row with such a penalty.  Deslauriers had approached Greer earlier in the game, challenging him just as Greer was entering the Bruins bench.  By this point in the third period Greer had made contact, though seemingly inadvertent, with both Flyers’ goaltenders and was even assessed a minor penalty in the 1st period for goaltender interference against Carter Hart.  Safe to say that Deslauriers was very much looking to take on Greer before, and certainly after, Greer’s heavy hit on DeAngelo.  

During the ensuing 4-on-4 play, an offensive zone rush led by David Krejci ended with an undefended Matt Grzeclyk skilfully sniping a wrist shot top corner against Errson from the right faceoff dot.  Krejci did not get an assist on the play, but a subtle deke through the neutral zone and a clean entry set up passing plays between David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, allowing Grzelcyk the time and space to set himself up for Boston’s 6th and final goal of the game.  

WRAPUP

Bruins’ goaltender Jeremy Swayman stood tall stopping all 29 shots faced, earning the shutout victory - the first of the season for Swayman, and the sixth of his still young career.  Swayman now holds a 10-3-3 record through 15 starts, with a .912 save percentage and 2.35 goals allowed on average.  This being a marked improvement over his start to the season, where he went 5-3-1 with an .887 SV% and 2.80 GAA through his first ten games.  

The all-Czechia line of Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak shined once again, totalling 9 points and 4 goals between them.  While Head Coach Jim Montgomery has an affinity for shuffling lines throughout play, one would hope that their recent dominance, particularly in 5-on-5 situations, has warranted them being left together for the foreseeable future.  

It has now been ten games since Tomas Nosek has taken a faceoff; two of these games Nosek was entirely absent from the lineup for the sake of maintenance.  An undisclosed and lingering upper-body ailment has left Nosek unable to participate in faceoffs across this stretch.  With Joona Koppanen returning to Boston’s lineup, and Nosek being given another day off, it would be Thursday, January 19th at the earliest we could see Nosek return to the dot.  And with a win percentage of 58.3%, that return will be more than welcomed.  Fun fact: With 1 game played, while going 5 for 7, Koppanen technically leads the team with a win percentage of 71.4.  Technically. 

Boston’s dominance is nothing short of historic.  A 34-5-4 win record in today’s NHL is a stunning, truly baffling feat.  One that has been inspiring articles and predictions about Boston’s inevitable collapse since their separation from the pack began.  And while their record alone surely screams “regress to the mean”, there’s something about this roster that says otherwise.  With Patrice Bergeron and Nick Foligno as your leadership, David Pastrnak and his quest for 50 goals/100 points more than underway, Vezina level goaltending within the best goalie tandem in the league, having enough depth of talent where Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall occupies your third line, and a never-ending carousel of offensive contributions from nearly every member of the lineup, there just does not seem to be a penetrable flaw in Boston’s armor.  Nothing other than the fundamental nature of probability itself is saying that Boston should, at any point, stop winning this many games.  

In a game where the top line is struggling, the second and third line pour on the goals.  In a game where the grinders are unable to wear down their matchups, the top line puts on an offensive clinic.  In games where Boston is seemingly unable to drum up any offense whatsoever, their goalies shut the door.  There are too many weapons, too many strengths, too much depth, and too few exploitable weaknesses for this Boston Bruins team to falter for more than a game or two.

  Although, more than halfway through the season, the Bruins have yet to lose two games in a row.  And most impressively, in the nine games they’ve played following any kind of loss, their netminders have combined to go 9-0-0 with a .952 SV% and a 1.32GAA.  

And while it is easy, and admittedly quite enjoyable, to say Boston will keep being great because that’s all they’ve done so far, it still does not feel biased or undiscerning to claim that they can end this season with the greatest regular season performance in NHL history.  The Bruins are currently on pace to end their 82 game season with 137 points, five greater than the record holding 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens who had gone 60-8-12, an .825 points percentage to Boston’s .837.  

PREVIEW

Boston’s journey continues Wednesday evening in Elmont, New York as they take on the 23-18-4 New York Islanders.  The Islanders are coming off an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals, and with centerman Kyle Palmieri and star defenseman Adam Pelech on the injured reserve, they will certainly have their hands full with Boston.  Matthew Barzal leads all Islanders with 41 points (11G-30A) and goaltender Ilya Sorokin has gotten the majority of the starts, with a 15-14-3 win record, a .925 SV%, 2.30 GAA, and three shutouts to his name.  Sorokin has been mentioned in early Vezina conversations, currently 4th in both SV% and GAA and tied for second in shutouts with three.  Additionally, his 22.6 goals saved above expected (GSAE) places him third among all goaltenders this year. 

 

And to further illustrate Boston’s comical dominance this year, Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark leads all goalies in every aforementioned statistical category for goaltenders other than shutouts, of which he is currently in an eight-way tie for third place with two.   Linus Ullmark: 23.3 GSAE, .936 SV%, 1.92 GAA, 23-2-1 record.

        Boston has little to work on heading into Wednesday night.  Their sixty-minute efforts have not been consistent, but when your third period goal differential (+39) outweighs thirty-one other teams total goal differentials (New Jersey’s +40 being the outlier), you tend to get away with some uninspired opening periods.  Expect Linus Ullmark back in net, and expect some fireworks as Bruins/Islanders games tend to get rambunctious.  And after a rather quiet game from Trent Frederic, don’t be surprised if Frederic returns to the scoresheet and penalty box for some extracurricular activities.