Ersson Exits Early as Flyers Shut Out by Bruins
Offensive production has been an issue for the Flyers for most of the season. During a week where the Flyers had managed just seven goals in the last three games, it continued on Saturday afternoon.
In the midst of a 3-0 shutout loss to the Boston Bruins, the Flyers also saw goaltender Sam Ersson leave the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.
The Bruins controlled the opening period, out-shooting the Flyers, 14-5, in the first 20 minutes. In addition to the slow start from the rest of the team, the Flyers lost their starting netminder just 7:36 into the game. Ersson stopped all eight shots he faced, including one that knocked the blade from his skate. Moments later, Ersson exited with a trainer and Aleksei Kolosov entered.
The Bruins got on the board at 13:28. A shot wide of the net from Hampus Lindholm bounced back to Matthew Poitras, who was able to put it toward the goal and get it through Kolosov to make it 1-0 Boston on his first of the season.
The Flyers started to gain more offensive momentum as the second period progressed, but again saw a close chance at one end lead to a goal at the other. Brad Marchand set up Justin Brazeau off the bench for his third goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Through two periods, shots were 21-12 Boston.
The Flyers were stifled for most of the third period as the Bruins shut things down. With over four minutes to play, the Flyers pulled the goalie in one last attempt to erase the deficit and gave up an empty-net goal to Marchand with 3:39 remaining.
Kolosov finished with 20 saves on 22 shots in relief. Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 20 shots faced in the shutout win.
Marchand had a goal and an assist in the win.
The Flyers hit the road for the next three games, starting on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m.
Box Score
1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
Bruins | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Flyers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- BOS Matthew Poitras (1) (Morgan Geekie, Hampus Lindholm) 13:28
2nd Period
- BOS Justin Brazeau (3) (Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm) 11:23
3rd Period
- BOS Brad Marchand (3) EN (David Pastrnak) 16:21
Game Statistics
Bruins | Flyers | |
Shots | 31 | 20 |
Power Play | 0/2 | 0/3 |
Hits | 22 | 30 |
Faceoff % | 53.3% | 46.7% |
Giveaways | 11 | 15 |
Takeaways | 6 | 5 |
Blocked Shots | 18 | 19 |
Penalty Minutes | 14 | 12 |
Video Recap
Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.