Brad Marchand

Thursday's 3-2 Flyers loss to the Bruins was one final game in a calendar year that has been as frustrating and disappointing as ever. Another loss in regulation brought the team’s current losing streak to six, and put a fitting conclusion to a 365-day period to forget.

David Pastrnak scored his 11th career hat trick and third against the Flyers, as the Bruins held on for a 3-2 win at TD Garden, marking the sixth straight loss for the Flyers. 

This is a game with two teams going in opposite directions. The Flyers have lost five straight games going back to Dec. 30. The Bruins are fresh off a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night and have won five of their last six games since New Year's Day.

The Flyers are 6-0 after a loss this season. They face another of those situations, as the Flyers welcome the Boston Bruins back to Philadelphia for the second time this season on Saturday night.

The dividends that are being paid from several new faces are very clear. Three of those newcomers had multiple points and helped the Flyers get off to their best scoring start through three games since 1983-84 with another six-goal outburst.

Cam Atkinson scored two goals in the game, a 6-3 victory for the Flyers, on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Boston Bruins come to town, playing in just their second game of the season. For three Flyers, it will mark their first game in the Orange and Black.

You can imagine how the result looked when the Boston Bruins, playing in their first preseason home game, took the opportunity to load up with roughly 90 percent of the NHL roster. It's hardly a way to evaluate how one team looks against another. It did present some early warning signs that need to be addressed and cleaned up with exactly two weeks remaining until the regular season opener.

The Bruins came away with a 4-2 win over the Flyers in the second game of the preseason for the Orange and Black.  

The two teams split the games earlier in the week with the Flyers winning on Monday night in overtime, then falling in regulation on Tuesday. That loss certainly felt like the final nail in the coffin on the Flyers playoff hopes, but if they are to make any bid at getting back in the race, a regulation win on Saturday against Boston is a must.