Flyers at Bruins preview: Boston hosts Philadelphia for final home game before Olympics break
The Bruins’ 65 points would be second in the Metropolitan Division and first in the Pacific, but that total is only good enough for fifth in a packed Atlantic.
“We feel pretty good about our month, our record, but we’re not moving [in the division] at all. It’s kind of crazy,” coach Marco Sturm said. “We take it day by day and see what happens. We’ve got to do our job, not someone else’s job.”
Get Starting Point
The Flyers have lost nine of their last 11 games heading into Thursday. Philadelphia is in the midst of a stretch of three games in four days as the schedule packs together games before the Olympic break.
Bruins center Elias Lindholm’s status is in doubt for Thursday after he left Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at TD Garden and on NESN. Here’s a preview.
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV, radio: NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5
Line: Boston -160. O/U: 6.0.
FLYERS
Season record: 24-19-9. vs. spread: 31-21. Over/under: 29-21, 2 pushes
Last 10 games: 2-7-1. vs. spread: 3-7. Over/under: 7-2, 1 push
BRUINS
Season record: 31-20-3. vs. spread: 34-20. Over/under: 30-23, 1 push
Last 10 games: 8-1-1. vs. spread: 6-4. Over/under: 6-3, 1 push
TEAM STATISTICS
Goals scored: Philadelphia 152, Boston 178
Goals allowed: Philadelphia 164, Boston 167
Power play: Philadelphia 15.1%, Boston 26.9%
Penalty minutes: Philadelphia 553, Boston 715
Penalty kill: Philadelphia 78.4%, Boston 77.8%
Faceoffs won: Philadelphia 49.2%, Boston 51.9%
Stat of the day: Morgan Geekie has five goals in his last five games after a 12-game goal drought.
Notes: The Bruins enter Thursday following a deserved day off. Following a Monday night road win over the Rangers, they rode the bus home from New York when their flight was canceled by the recent snowstorm. The team was back in action on Tuesday, with the puck drop coming less than six hours after the Bruins’ arrival back in Massachusetts. … David Pastrnak finished with the game-winning goal after assisting on Morgan Geekie’s 30th tally, a goal which marked Geekie’s second straight season breaking the 30-goal plateau. “You can see, I think he’s enjoying the game again,” Sturm said of Geekie. “He’s a happy camper right now.” … Hampus Lindholm also scored after being named to Sweden’s Olympic team earlier in the day. … The Flyers are dealing with multiple injuries. Top scorer Travis Konecny was battling through a foot injury in Columbus on Wednesday and could miss Thursday’s game; goaltender Dan Vladar only returned Wednesday from a two-week absence; and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen played just 61 seconds Wednesday in his second game back from an upper-body issue.
Amin Touri can be reached at [email protected].
