Flyers come back to beat Bruins in overtime, 3-2

Tuukka Rask has returned to face the Philadelphia Flyers after missing time due to concussion symptoms. Last time the Flyers came to Boston, Zdeno Chara scored twice, and hasn’t found the back of the net since.

Rask is 14-2-3, with a 1.99 GAA in his career against the Flyers.

On the other end, Carter Hart is back in goal after stopping 31 of 32 shots on Monday night.

The Flyers are without defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere once again.

1st Period

Flyers 1, Bruins 1

Boston started strong, looking like the better team and earning an early powerplay goal after Claude Giroux tripped David Pastrnak. Oskar Lindblom continued to play well.

Late in the period, Giroux took another shift on a re-done top line with Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek. Scott Gordon switched up lines all period looking for a spark, and got one after Voracek threaded a puck through a Boston defender to spring a Giroux breakaway. A leg kick froze goalie Tuukka Rask and the puck beat him.

There's simply no denying the @28CGiroux head fake. pic.twitter.com/PTW7uTHDTN

— NHL (@NHL) February 1, 2019

Hart made nine saves on ten shots in the period. Defenseman Ivan Provorov seems to be finding last season’s stride.

2nd Period

Flyers 1, Bruins 2

Pastrnak struck again on a highly skilled deflection from Patrice Bergeron. The top line of the Bruins continued to do whatever they wanted, at will, with Pastrnak looking the best of the bunch. He came inches away from a hat-trick 16 minutes into the period, hitting the side of the net.

Travis Sanheim took a wrist shot to the side of the neck near his jaw, and that could have been a lot worse. He didn’t miss any time.

Much of the Philadelphia offense is originating on counter attack rushes (six odd-man opportunities thus far) and shots from the point. Recent call-up Mikhail Vorobyev makes some nice passes to his defenseman, but doesn’t see much ice time.

Nolan Patrick had a couple of great scoring chances, but couldn’t beat Rask, who was up to the task. Radko Gudas struck iron late in the frame.

Hart had simply decided that Boston wasn’t winning so easily, and there they sat, down just one after two periods.

3rd Period

Flyers 2, Bruins 2

Scott Laughton had been wonderful up and down the ice tonight and earned himself a penalty shot at 6:42 of the third. Rask didn’t bite on his move and the game remained 2-1 in favor of Boston despite nine odd man rushes for Philadelphia.

.@tuukkarask denies the penalty shot attempt. 🚫 pic.twitter.com/PWcIvHBA6z

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 1, 2019

Oskar Lindblom converted a powerplay chance by pinballing his redirect off a number of legs and through Rask. Lindblom has two goals in two games. Jake Voracek was credited with his second assist of the game.

Late in the game, Hart sold out to stop David Krejci after a turnover in the defensive ice, and Krejci passed instead. Danton Heinen had all the net in the world, and the puck fumbled over his stick and the Flyers lived to tell about it.

A handy guide for Danton Heinen pic.twitter.com/jNzsza5Hau

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 1, 2019

Hart then stopped Pastrnak on a Bruins odd-man rush, and as the Flyers seem to run out of gas, he’s been much busier. The 20 year old goaltender pushed his struggling team to the overtime period.

Overtime

Shortly after the opening faceoff, Travis Konecny drew a tripping call on Brad Marchand. Scott Gordon called his timeout to gameplan the 4-on-3 advantage.

The second unit took the ice, and in his 100th career game, Travis Sanheim ripped a shot by Rask to extend the Flyers winning streak to six games. It’s his first game winning goal in the NHL.

Snipe City

Population: Travis Sanheim pic.twitter.com/NP5om09lpd

— Brandon Murphy (@2Murphy8) February 1, 2019

3-on-3 overtime remains the greatest rule change since the two line pass rule was eradicated.

Final score:

Flyers 3, Bruins 2

Shots on goal:

Flyers 41, Bruins 25

Players of the Game:

Oskar Lindblom (PHI), Travis Sanheim (PHI), Tuukka Rask (BOS), David Pastrnak (BOS)