Talking points from the B's loss to the Flyers. . .
GOLD STAR: Sean Couturier scored three of the four goals for the Flyers, and was right in the middle of everything while playing a strong 200-foot game for Philly. The eventual game-winner was both a good, strong wrist shot from the left face-off circle off the rush, and it was also an incredibly soft goal allowed by Jaroslav Halak. Couturier finished with the hat trick and a plus-1 rating in 22:18 of ice time, five shots on net and 13-of-23 face-off wins in an impressive all-around game for the Flyers. The Flyers' best players were the game’s best players on Wednesday night and it was as simple as that, and Couturier was the best of the best.
BLACK EYE: It looks like the spaced out appearances and the natural ebb and flow to the season have caught up to Jaroslav Halak, who struggled with four goals allowed on 18 shots in Wednesday night’s loss. Halak has now allowed four goals in three of his last four games and is sporting an .861 save percentage over that time span. He's really come crashing back down to Earth after his great start to the season for the Bruins and tonight’s loss to the Flyers was another example. The final goal allowed to Couturier on a wrist shot from the face-off circle was the backbreaker that made it a two-goal game. Halak had a couple of pretty good saves mixed in, but he looked like he was fighting the puck for most of the night while picking up his third loss in his last four starts.
TURNING POINT: The Bruins looked like they kicked back and relaxed after taking an early 2-0 lead in the first period. They got lax on defense, their power play lacked urgency when they had a couple of chances to do damage with it, and as a team they barely reacted when Jori Lehtera clobbered Ryan Donato from behind at the end of the second period. It’s a couple of times now this season that the B’s looked like they stopped playing after taking an early lead, so that’s something they’re going to need to work on for the future. Considering the opponent and the circumstances of the game, this loss to the Flyers was one of the worst ones in a while for the B’s.
HONORABLE MENTION: A great start for Peter Cehlarik scoring in the first period of his first game with the Bruins this season. It was a pretty perfect setup from Jake DeBrusk cross-ice to Cehlarik, who buried the shot into the vacant portion of the net with Flyers goaltender Carter Hart going side-to-side with the moving puck. Cehlarik also had a boarding penalty on his first shift of the game, but at least he’s trying to get involved physically. Cehlarik couldn’t get off another shot on net through the rest of the two periods and had a giveaway to go along with a takeaway and a blocked shot. Cehlarik then added a second goal around the front of the net in the late moments of the third period. He certainly did his job with the two goals and wasn’t a liability at all for the Bruins, so Cehlarik certainly merits a longer look on the David Krejci line after his debut.
BY THE NUMBERS: 121 – the number of goals scored by David Pastrnak prior to his 23rd birthday after tonight’s first period power play strike, which ranks as the most goals scored in franchise history by a player 22 years old or younger.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Makes us wonder why we didn't call him up a long time ago." – Bruce Cassidy to reporters about Peter Cehlarik’s two-goal performance in his first game since getting called up to the Bruins.
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