The Boston Bruins kick off a six-game road swing against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The Boston Bruins are preparing for their longest road trip of the season, which starts in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Saturday.
The Bruins are coming off a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday, but they defeated the Flyers 6-5 on March 16.
Brad Marchand took practice off on Friday due to maintenance, and while Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he will likely be in the lineup, it isn’t 100 percent. Additionally, James van Riemsdyk is “feeling better,” but remains questionable for Saturday after missing the last two games recovering from an illness.
There’s a chance for a new look on the back end, specifically on the third pair. Mason Lohrei practiced with Andrew Peeke on Friday, and Montgomery talked about wanting to get a look at the duo sooner than later.
“A guy that’s physical against a guy that’s a puck-mover, an offensive guy with a more defensive mind,” Montgomery said on Friday. “On paper, it looks good, but maybe we’ll see it tomorrow in Philly. I’m not 100 percent sure.”
Boston will look to rebound from Thursday’s effort against the Rangers, where a solid start in the first period gave way to getting dominated by New York across the final two periods. Despite having their three-game win streak snapped and losing ground in their lead atop the league standings, the players are more focused on the way they play over this road trip rather than get hung up on the results.
“It’s just the way we play, and kind of our process,” Trent Frederic said on Friday. “If we’re playing better through that, I think we’re fine if we lose some– I mean, we lose that game, it’s gonna happen. It’s hockey, sometimes the better team doesn’t win, but I think it’s just playing good hockey.”
Five Things to Know About the Flyers:
- Philadelphia has lost four of its past six games (2-3-1).
- Travis Konecny leads the team in scoring with 59 points in 64 games.
- Goalie Samuel Ersson has a .898 save percentage and 2.68 goals against average this season.
- The Flyers have the 11th-lowest scoring offense (2.91 goals per game), and the 16th-ranked scoring defense (3.01 goals allowed per game).
- Philadelphia has the worst power play in the NHL (12.7%), but the third-best penalty kill (84.6%).
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