A good first tune-up for many of the Flyers' regulars.
In their first action of the preseason, several key Philadelphia Flyers got their reps in against an undermanned Boston Bruins team, gutting out a 2-0 shutout win.
Stars like Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov made their preseason debuts, as did workhorses Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen. Michkov was the star of the show on Thursday night, scoring his first goal of the preseason and generally looking like a potential star-caliber player while paired with Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak.
Zegras won 6 of 17 faceoffs (35.3%) but otherwise looked his usual self, setting up teammates, latching onto and making creative passes, and adding underrated defensive value with tidy stick work.
Zegras, however, did get tagged for an unusual penalty midway through the second period, and it almost got the Flyers in trouble, especially after Jett Luchanko took a penalty of his own to put the Flyers down on a 5-on-3.
Something you don't see every day: an improper wearing of equipment penalty, which Zegras admitted after the game he was initially warned about his tucked jersey before ultimately getting whistled for the penalty for a second infraction.
"They told us, in all fairness, two, three weeks ago. I didn't even think about it," head coach Rick Tocchet said of the penalty. "Then he came over and explained 'Hey, Trevor's got a warning.' I don't know what Trevor did with it. . . he obviously can't do it anymore. He's gotta put a tie down, because regular season starts, we can't have a penalty like that for a tucked jersey."
No harm, no foul, of course, as the Flyers held down the fort in the second period despite the Bruins out-shooting them 14-7.
Early in the third period, surging prospect Cole Knuble doubled the Flyers' lead to 2-0, crashing the crease and poking home a loose puck.
The play all started with Jett Luchanko, who received a pass from Jacob Gaucher and powered his way to the net despite heavy objection from a Bruins defender. Knuble did the rest, and Luchanko earned his third assist in as many preseason games.
"Yeah, I think we've played now, probably four games together, preseason, rookie camp, so building some chemistry there," Knuble said of his budding partnership with Luchanko. "He's fun to play with. He's so fast, creates turnovers. Just an easy guy to play with."
New Flyers goalie Joseph Woll, who is filling in for an injured Dan Vladar, stopped all 28 shots he faced from the Bruins to earn the shutout
"He looks big in net. I mean, he made some really good saves. There was some, especially in the second, they had a couple power plays. We were down to five 'D', and they were coming on," Tocchet remarked. "And then he made some really good saves. Solid, really solid goalie."
Defenseman Simon Benoit dropped the gloves with Bruins winger Brian Halonen and handily won the fight with a takedown.
Flyers notes
Nikita Grebenkin played 12:40 in his first game for the Flyers since March. "It's nice to get him that game so he can kind of feel it out there," Tocchet said of Grebenkin.
Grebenkin played on a line with captain Sean Couturier and newcomer Noel Acciari, a potential preview of the Flyers' fourth line for opening night.
Defenseman Helge Grans was forced to exit due to a lower-body injury after just 1:29 of ice time, forcing the Flyers to play the rest of the game with five defensemen. Grans picked up the secondary assist on Michkov's opening goal.
The Flyers will play their last preseason game on Saturday, hosting the Washington Capitals at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 5 p.m.
