Behind an indifferent offense, the Flyers found their winning streak coming to an end with a loss to the Bruins

The calendar turned to November, and with it went the Flyers’ winning steak.

The Flyers lost 3-0 to the Bruins on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center; Less than a week after starting a two-game winning streak with a 2-0 win over the Bruins in Boston.

They struggled to find their offense against a desperate Boston team that sits eighth in the Atlantic Division and has lost five of six games, including an 8-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

“We knew they were going to have a tough outing based on the last few games,” forward Owen Tippett said. “I think we’ve established how we want to play with the thrusts, but I don’t think we’ve gotten into them enough.”

Ersson is injured, Kolosov is injured

With 13 minutes and 12 seconds left in the first period, Sam Ersson saved his toe on a shot that knocked out his right skate blade. After he waved to the referees who stopped the game, assistant equipment manager John Peters replaced him and the game continued.

But something was wrong with Ersson, and when the broadcast returned from commercial break at 12:24 they saw the goalkeeper nodding towards the bench. Ersson then skated over and spoke with head athletic trainer Tommy Alva, and referee Peter MacDougall also appeared to be involved in the conversation.

Ersson appeared to point to his left leg as Aleksei Kolosov lay on the ice behind him. The Swedish netminder left the game and did not return after saving all eight shots. After the game, the Flyers announced that Ersson suffered what they called a lower-body injury. Coach John Tortorella said he did not speak to the practice staff before speaking to the media.

Kolosov came in relief for the first time in his NHL career. He hasn’t played since making his NHL debut in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 27.

“I feel much better,” Kolosov said through team advisor Slava Kuznetsov. “I was understanding the game better, so I feel much better in the game today.” Kolosov added that he felt better “taking care of the style of play, the traffic in front of the net and all aspects of the game.”

The 22-year-old goalkeeper made a fine save on Pavel Zacha for his first save of the game and then showed off his athletic abilities by sliding to protect the left post on any rebound attempts. But with 6:32 left in the opening frame, Matthew Poitras couldn’t slide the goal quickly enough to block Hampus Lindholm’s outbound shot.

“This is a difficult situation to face at any time,” Tippett said. “Obviously you come in out cold and he made some big saves for us. So, like I said, it’s a tough situation for him but I think he handled it well and did a good job.”

In the second period, Bruins forward Brad Marchand skated down the left wing next to defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. After correctly releasing him, there is a low percentage as he went into the back of the net and scored from behind, Marchand slid and fed Justin Brazeau, who was sitting on the bench, once.

Kolosov finished the game with 20 saves on 22 shots and saw his overall goals-against average drop to 3.29 and his save percentage increase to .870. Marchand would add a free agent with 3:39 left in the game.

“I thought they went on the power play early in the first half of the first period and stepped it up a little bit. I thought Erss was outstanding,” Tortorella said. “I thought we had a good period in the second period, trying to develop a little more offense.

“I thought we played well in front of Koly and I don’t think there will be a problem there (of the team playing hard for him). His game has a certain personality. He fights.”

Lack of attraction…again

The Flyers have struggled to make shots this season. They enter the game, Has the third-lowest average in the NHL 26.2 per game. They didn’t even come close to that in this game, finishing with 20 points, eight more missed and 19 blocked. Typically the ones doing the interception are the Flyers, who conceded just 19 pucks. In comparison, the Bruins had 31 shots on goal.

“Yeah, I think we’re having a hard time really creating sustained offense right now,” forward Sean Couturier said. “We get opportunities but there are too many chances and it’s over. “We have to find a way to get another piece of gear into our game.”

Natural Stat Trick upset Flyers There were seven shot attempts at five-on-five in the first period, and only one was on the power play. It probably didn’t help that Travis Konecny ​​was tagged with a weak tripping penalty while Matvei Michkov was tackled in the first minute of the game.

“Offensively it’s OK, we’re still not there,” Tortorella said. “We did such a good job in the middle of the ice in front of our goalie that I thought we played really good defense there. I still don’t think about where we are in the offensive zone, in the offensive zone. In the first half of the game, we rarely encountered a third man with two (defensive) players in the offensive zone. “When we started doing that, we saw some opportunities.”

Morgan Frost had the Flyers’ best chance in the third period when Tippett got around the Bruins’ defense and single-handedly fed the middle man at the right post. Frost quickly cleared the shot but Joonas Korpisalo made a superb glove save.

“After the game you look at the shot total and we weren’t getting as many shots as we wanted,” Frost said. “But at the same time, we feel like we have quite a few Grade A chances in every game and it just isn’t available to us at the moment. “Yes, it is frustrating for everyone.”

The blame doesn’t fall on Michkov, who was named the NHL’s October Rookie of the Month, but he went scoreless for the fourth straight game. Tortorella said the 19-year-old phenom likes to play on the weak side where the ice is open, but struggles to support his teammates in the corner of the offensive zone when they are outnumbered, for example.

“He wants to carry the team. He wants to be that guy, and that’s what we love about him,” Tortorella said. “But like I said the other day, he’s learning what the National Hockey League is.

“There will be some challenges with him going into his first year in the league, but he made some good plays today. He made some nice plays that turned into some offense. It hasn’t turned into goals yet.”

Jay Greenberg honored

The Flyers paid tribute to Hockey Hall of Fame reporter Jay Greenberg in the Gene Hart Press Box. Before the game, the press bench was named after a former and successful longtime Flyers reporter. greenberg Died August 2021 Due to complications from West Nile Virus. He was 71 years old.

“Jay was an exciting reporter,” former Flyers reporter Sam Carchidi said at the press conference. “He was someone who cultivated resources, whether it was players, coaches, front office, managers and even equipment managers. He did it better than almost anyone. “He was someone who really loved hockey and had the utmost respect for the sport.”

Greenberg, who won the 2013 Ferguson Memorial Award given to members of the hockey writing profession whose words bring honor to journalism and hockey, was a noted writer on many Flyers books and worked as a sports journalist for five decades. Philadelphia Daily News.

“Dad loved writing, his art, his craft, putting the right words together, telling a compelling story,” Greenberg’s daughter Liz said. “He admitted his journalistic integrity when asked which team he supports. … He explained that it was based on short plays and beautiful stories. To be clear, the shortness of the play wasn’t because he wanted to leave early, oh no, it was to give himself enough time to write his article or column exactly as he wanted while still meeting deadlines late into the night.

“This meant he was often the last person to leave the press box. Therefore, it seems very appropriate that today, with this honor, he will take the press podium with memory and spirit forever.”

breakups

The Flyers had 30 hits in the game to the Bruins’ 22. … The referees did not call Lindholm for an apparent choke on Garnet Hathway in the first period in front of the referee who yelled for her to let go. … The Flyers played the same lineup for the third straight game, including starting the game with the same lines. … Defenseman Egor Zamula, forward Nick Deslauriers and goaltender Ivan Fedotov were healthy scratches.

next

The Flyers practice Monday before beginning a three-game road trip in the Southeast where they will face former teammate Sean Walker and the Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP).