Another less than impressive period of hockey for the Flyers, but this time, their Captain stepped up and made something happen. Mike Richards stole the puck, charged up ice on a two-on-one and fed Kris Versteeg to go in all along on Tim Thomas. Versteeg went backhand and lifted the puck just over Thomas’ pad.
The Flyers squandered another power play that period, while giving the Bruins one themselves. Dan Carcillo went down to block a shot – taking it off his foot – but got up and cross-checked a Bruin without the puck. He then limped down the tunnel. With only 24 seconds left, Danny Briere took a holding penalty as he tried to get back on a 2-on-1.
Shots were even at 7 that period, but the Bruins effectively shut the Flyers down. Neither Scott Hartnell nor Ville Leino have a shot on goal yet, which is just not good enough. On defense, Braydon Coburn continues to have a fantastic game, getting physically involved and laying out to block shots.
Sergei Bobrovsky has both played well and benefited from good luck. He made a great stop on Rich Peverley, but as he lay prone and out of position, Peverley got two whacks at an open net… and hit the outside. The Bruins have effectively screened Bobrovsky to the point where he couldn’t see the shot, and the shot has gone wide. The Bruins have missed the net 12 times already this game, many where Bobrovsky either didn’t see it our couldn’t stop it.
But the storyline so far has been a mediocre game where neither team is playing particularly well. Like the second period, the third will start with one team on the man advantage. This time, the Bruins will have 1:36 to start with the man advantage.