Bruins Overtime: Bruins Get Back To Basics In 3-2 Shootout Win Over Philly

BOSTON -- On Saturday afternoon, the Boston Bruins were able to successfully snap their four-game losing skid when they up-ended the Eastern Conference rival Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a shootout in front of a rowdy St. Patrick's Day crowd of 17, 565 Bostonians.

While surrendering a two-goal lead in any game is never a good sign for a hockey club, Saturday’s contest seemed to resemble a much more Bruin-like effort than what we’ve seen recently from the Black and Gold. The passes were crisper. They were willing to sacrifice the body to make a play, something that’s been missing over their recent losing streak. Up and down the lineup, the B's seemed to be a much more committed team than they have been as of late.

It all started in the first period for a B's squad that hadn't scored the opening goal of a game since March 3 in a home-ice matinee against the Islanders. Jumping out to a 2-0 lead thanks to tallies from Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin, Boston set the tone early in a pivotal match-up against the Flyers.

"It certainly set the tone for the game. That’s the one thing we wanted to do, and when you haven’t done that in a while, it’s obviously a good feeling, and it really brings back the confidence. That was important for us, and our guys were mentally ready for it." -- Claude Julien

The forwards, Milan Lucic in particular, seemed to be a lot stronger with the puck and often created scoring chances for themselves with hard drives to the net. As I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the afternoon, when the 6'4" Lucic can effectively use his size to his advantage, much like he did today, he has the potential to be one of --if not the-- best power forwards in the entire NHL.

In the bad news department, on both Philadelphia goals, a Flyer forward out-muscled a B’s defenseman to secure proper position to deflect the puck past Tim Thomas. The B’s must do a better job in front of their netminder if they’d like to build on Saturday’s winning effort.

Up next for the Black and Gold is a Monday night clash with the Northeast Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs, right back here at the TD Garden.

Bruins Vs. Flyers Final: Bruins Collapse Late, But Hold On For 3-2 Win In Shootout At TD Garden

BOSTON-- Seeking to snap their most recent, season-long four game losing streak, the Boston Bruins came out hungry in the first period on Saturday against the Eastern Conference rival Philadelphia Flyers. Fortunately, for a Boston squad that couldn't hold a lead, they were able to hold on for a much-needed win in the shootout.

Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin were responsible for giving the Black and Gold a 2-0 lead after the first twenty minutes of action after a period that saw the ice completely tilted into Boston's favor.

Matt Read would cut the Flyers' deficit in half with his 20th tally of the season at the mid-point of the second period when he deflected home a Danny Briere wrist shot whilst on the power-play.

For the better part of the second frame and for almost the entirety of the third, we would see two teams execute air-tight defensive hockey to keep the score at 2-1 in favor of Boston.

However, the Flyers would knot the score at two late in the final frame when Jakub Voracek would deflect a Braydon Coburn shot past Tim Thomas with only four minutes left in regulation time.

Both teams would play to a scoreless tie through the five minute overtime period, with the Bruins taking the extra point by way of the shootout.

The obligatory violence that comes with hockey in Boston on St. Patrick's Day featured two evenly matched bouts, a first period exchange between Gregory Campbell and Zac Rinaldo and some second frame fisticuffs featuring Johnny Boychuk and Max Talbot.

Bruins Vs. Flyers Score Update: Matt Read Cuts The Boston Lead To 2-1 After Two Periods

BOSTON-- After some early pressure and a failed power-play chance kicked off the second period for Boston, rugged blueliner Johnny Boychuk threw down the mitts with former Pittsburgh Penguin Max Talbot for the afternoon’s second edition of the fisticuffs.

Philadelphia would cut the Boston lead in half midway through the second period when rookie forward Matt Read would deflect a Danny Briere wrist shot past Tim Thomas for his 20^th goal of the season with only two seconds remaining on a Flyers’ power-play. The twenty goal plateau is undoubtedly a major accomplishment for the late-blooming rookie out of Ilderton, Ontario after spending a full four seasons at Bemidji State University.

In the misleading statistics department, B's defenseman Greg Zanon is listed with a plus-two rating through the first two periods, despite being out-muscled in-front of the Boston net near the tail-end of the Philly power-play that would lead to Read's tally.

Through two periods, Tim Thomas has made 14 saves, whilst his counter-part Ilya Bryzgalov has stopped 17 shots on the opposite end of the TD Garden ice.

Bruins Vs. Flyers Score Update: Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin Record First Period Tallies To Give Boston A 2-0 Lead After First

BOSTON-- On Saturday afternoon the Boston Bruins were out to buck their most recent trend of losing and sub-par hockey when they hosted on of their most heated rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers. On a warm St. Patrick’s Day afternoon, the day after losing the Northeast division lead to the surging Ottawa Senators, the B’s undoubtedly expected a strong effort out of a Philly club that had won seven of it’s previous ten contests.

The hatred was brewing early on as Flyers’ rookie Zac Rinaldo and Bruins’ enforcer Gregory Campbell dropped the gloves just two minutes into action, for round one of what many expect to become a ten-round joust between two of the NHL’s heavyweight squads.

Boston would jump out to a 1-0 lead at the 6:23 mark of the opening frame when Chris Kelly collected his 17^th of the season off a Benoit Pouliot rebound. The goal marked the first time the Black and Gold have scored the first goal of a game since a home-ice matinee with the Islanders…..back on March 3.

Late in the period, the B’s would double their lead when Tyler Seguin slipped one through the five hole of Ilya Bryzgalov after a sweet little behind-the-net dish from Patrice Bergeron.

Boston would carry a 2-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to eleven saves from starting goaltender Tim Thomas.

Bruins Versus Flyers: Bruins Hopeful Home Ice Gives Them Edge Against Flyers

Will home ice re-energize the Boston Bruins? In the midst of a frustrating four game losing streak, the Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers at the TD Garden in a Saturday matinee.