Bruins plot to extend home winning streak vs. Flyers
The Boston Bruins get their final taste of home cooking before the Olympics on Thursday when they face the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time this season.
Boston's outstanding recent form -- 9-1-1 in the past 11 games, including an active eight-game home win streak -- continued with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The Bruins have a six-point lead for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and are in a three-way tie for third in the Atlantic Division.
First-year coach Marco Sturm hopes that his Bruins can grab one more win in their final home game until Feb. 26 before trekking south for an NHL Stadium Series game against the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
"We feel pretty good about our month, our record, but we're not moving (in the division) at all. It's kind of crazy," Sturm said. "We take it day by day and see what happens. We've got to do our job, not someone else's job."
The Bruins enter Thursday following a deserved day off. Following a Monday night road win over the Rangers, they bused home from New York when their flight was canceled due to the recent snowstorm that battered the East.
The team was back in action on Tuesday, with the puck drop coming less than six hours after the Bruins' arrival back in Massachusetts. Even so, David Pastrnak finished with the game-winning goal after assisting on Morgan Geekie's 30th tally. Hampus Lindholm also scored after being named to Sweden's Olympic team earlier in the day.
"It was tough, but that's what makes (the) win special, the way we grinded it out and did it together as a group," Pastrnak said.
Geekie emerged from a 12-game goal drought to net five goals in his past five games, reaching the 30-goal plateau for the second consecutive season.
"You can see, I think he's enjoying the game again," Sturm said of Geekie. "He's a happy camper right now."
The Bruins were awaiting news on the status of forward Elias Lindholm after he exited the Nashville game due to an upper-body injury in the second period.
The Flyers trek to Boston for their second of three games in a four-day span and to complete a back-to-back set. Philadelphia fell 5-3 to the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, the Flyers' ninth loss in 11 games (2-7-2).
Travis Konecny provided all of Philadelphia's offense, completing his third career hat trick with two third-period goals while battling through foot pain from blocking a shot late in the middle frame. Both of his multi-goal performances this season have come in the past five games.
The alternate captain's third marker, with 4:46 left in the game, brought the Flyers even after they faced a 3-1 deficit, but Columbus produced the final two goals.
"We just shot ourselves in the foot a few times and they capitalized on them," Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim said. "We weren't executing the way that we need to at this level. It cost us."
Given coach Rick Tocchet's description of Konecny's injury following the game, it was an especially impressive lead-by-example effort.
"He's limping around. He might not play (Thursday), we don't know," Tocchet said. "So, he had a lot of guts."
Tocchet commented earlier this week that his top line of Trevor Zegras, Konecny and Christian Dvorak has been "cheating for offense" amid the team's recent struggles.
"You've got to play the right way," he said. "You'll get the same amount of chances in the long run, and that's the way you're supposed to play the game anyway."
The Wednesday performance was welcome, though the Flyers will have more than one injury to assess when they arrive in Boston.
Goaltender Dan Vladar returned from a two-week absence caused by a lower-body ailment to make 26 saves in Columbus, including two of the highlight-reel variety in the third period. However, the Flyers lost defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen after just 1:01 of ice time in his second game back from an upper-body ailment.