BOSTON – Offensive woes continued to plague the Boston Bruins, Tuesday night at TD Garden.
Tyson Foerster netted the lone goal, as the upstart Philadelphia Flyers shutout Boston, 2-0.
Fresh off an emotionally charged 4-3 win over Toronto in sudden death overtime, the Bruins (4-5-1) fell flat against a second to last place Flyer club, that simply outworked them.
It was the Flyers first win in Boston in 21 games, snapping a 0-16-4 run in that span.
“It’s not good enough,” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. “We’re not making plays, we’re not doing enough to generate high dangerous scoring chances. Whether that’s a will to go to those areas or not the right gameplan, we’re all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”
The loss was the most recent blow to a struggling Bruins team that continues to grapple with its consistency. Boston had previously dropped a 2-1 OT loss in Utah, Oct. 19, a 4-0 setback in Nashville on Oct. 22 and a 5-2 loss vs. Dallas on Oct. 2.
So why wasn’t the team able to build off Saturday’s OT win over Toronto?
“That’s a good question,” said Montgomery. “It’s still a multitude of things it seems like. Some guys are still fighting it as far as their confidence and just their ability to be smooth with the puck on the ice.”
Their inability to cash in on power play play loomed large, especially in the first period.
The Bruins were unable to convert on a 5-on-3 power play early in the stanza. They couldn’t muster any quality shots on net throughout a lengthy 1:37 two-man advantage. The few stops goalie Samuel Ersson (24 saves) did make came off some fluttering deflections.
The Flyers quickly countered embarking on a shorthanded 2-on-1 shorthanded break. Bruins back-up goalie Joonas Korpisalo was up to the task, however, making a snapping glove save off a Garnett Hathaway drive. The Boston netminder was effective making 17 saves. He deserved a better fate.
“I thought he gave us an opportunity to win,” said Montgomery. “He didn’t face a lot of shots, but he faced high quality shots. I can think of at least three great saves that gave us the opportunity before it went 1-0.”
After a scoreless first period, the Flyers found their footing. Foerster provided the firepower scoring the goal off a cross-ice feed taking a 1-0 lead into the second intermission. That was all the offense the Broad Street Bullies would need, holding Boston scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
The Flyers added an empty-netter with 23.2 remaining to seal the victory.
“That’s the way it goes,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand. “Sometimes you come in overconfident. You have to respect every team, every night. We had opportunities especially in the second period, but we let it get away from us. Again, we have to continue to build off the right things. We got away from playing hard at the net in the third period and they did a really good job of protecting their net front very well We need to be better in that area.”