The Bruins dominated the Flyers to secure their first win of the preseason, posting a 3-1 victory on the road Thursday night. For reference, here was the Bruins’ lineup for the matchup:
Bjork – Coyle – Heinen
Blidh – Kuraly – Backes
DeBrusk – Studnicka – Kuhlman
Cehlarik – Gaunce – Lantosi
Lauzon – Clifton
Vaakanainen – Petrovic
Zech – Didier
Zboril
Halak
Lagace
Here are four takeaways from Thursday’s victory:
Boston’s potential third line dominates
Even with Bruce Cassidy’s roster still missing many key NHLers both up front and along the blue line, the Bruins still suffocated a physical Flyers bunch on Thursday — limiting Philly to just 33 shot attempts and 16 total shots on goal during 5v5 play en route to a 3-1 victory.
While numerous forward combinations and D pairings operated for extended stretches in the Flyers’ zone, no group was more impactful than the combination that could serve as Boston’s third line once regular-season hockey gets underway on October 3.
The trio of Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen — despite playing in-game action for the first time together — was an absolute buzzsaw on Thursday, headlined by Heinen’s tally at 7:47 in the opening period.
The sequence leading up to the goal, in which Coyle refused to give up the puck down low, was a usual sight on Thursday, as the pivot was a possession monster all night. Aided by an already plus-defender in Heinen, the Flyers never stood a chance against this line — with 10-13-43 generating an absurd 84.21 Corsi For Percentage on the night.
In other words, during the 7:55 of 5v5 TOI in which that line was rolled out, Boston held a commanding 16-3 edge in shot attempts — and a 7-1 advantage when it came to shots on goal. There’s still four preseason games left on the docket, so one should expect other forwards to shuffle in on that line as Cassidy looks to find the best fit around Coyle.
But if the Bruins were to head down to Dallas on October 3 with Bjork-Coyle-Heinen in tow, they’re already in a much better position than they were just a year ago when it comes to their bottom-six corps. Coyle and Heinen could really do some damage together.
Connor Clifton’s eventful night
It was a typical box score for Clifton on Thursday night.
A slashing and high-sticking penalties
A nifty breakaway goal
There were a few things to clean up in Clifton’s game, as he was knocked for a goal against in the first period off of
Matt Niskanen
’s tally. Clifton’s inability to corral the puck with Jack Studnicka along the boards proved costly, but the Quinnipiac product rebounded as the contest went on, culminating in his goal just seconds after exiting the sin bin in the third period.
This is going to be a crucial stretch for Clifton, given the current makeup of Boston’s D corps. With both
Kevan Miller
and
John Moore
slated to miss the start of the regular season, Clifton very well could have that third-pairing spot next to
Matt Grzelcyk
locked up once the regular season finally gets underway.
However, it’s hard to overlook the push that
Urho Vaakanainen
has provided through his first two preseason games, with the 20-year-old skater logging 21:17 of ice time on Thursday night. During that stretch in which Vaakanainen was deployed, Boston held a 7-2 edge in high-danger scoring chances.
Studnicka stumbles
After scoring a clutch goal in the final seconds of Monday’s OT loss to New Jersey,
Jack Studnicka
had a rougher go of it on Thursday while centering a line with
Jake DeBrusk
and
Karson Kuhlman
.
Jaroslav Halak steals show with highlight-reel stop
Halak was strong in his first look at preseason action this fall, stopping 16 of the 17 shots that came his way before exiting the game after two periods of play. One of those saves might have been the play of the preseason so far, as the B’s backup netminder absolutely robbed
Morgan Frost
with a no-look, behind-the-back glove save in the first period.
After a relatively strong showing in net from
Kyle Keyser
and
Dan Vladar
on Monday, Halak continued the trend with his play — as the veteran was sharp in terms of tracking the puck against a heavy Flyers club that thrives off of redirects and rebounds down low.
Maxime Lagace
