FINAL: Bruins 6 , Flyers 2 - Bruins score four in the first and take care of business

The Bruins took care of business by a score of 6-2 against a struggling Flyers team as of late to play spoiler on the day of Mark Reechi's jersey retirement day. The start of this game felt similar to the Ottawa game on Thursday when they were getting outplayed and outshot as Philadelphia outshot Boston 9-3 at one point in the first period. David Pastrnak got the Bruins going when he scored at the 14:09 mark to make it 1-0. 

While people want to talk about Pastrnak, and rightfully so, Patrick Brown was the guy that got everything going after just getting called up from Providence today, was placed in the lineup and played his butt off. Once he hit the ice in the first period his energy seemed to propel the rest of the team. Boston went on to take a 4-0 lead at the first intermission as Pastrnak added another goal at the 18:23 mark. Charlie McAvoy and Danton Heinen got in on the scoring in the first period as well. 

The Bruins quickly added on another goal 1:15 into the second period when James Van Riemsdyk scored in his return to Philadelphia. 

The Flyers inserted Cal Peterson in net to start the second period after Samuel Ersson gave up four goals in the first period. Tyson Foerster finally got the Flyers on the board at the 15:23 mark in the second period and scored again at the 11:24 mark in the third period. Charlie Coyle scored an insurance goal for the Bs to put the nail in the coffin in the third period at the 14:45 mark, making it 6-2. 

The Bruins enter the All-Star Break with 71 points and as the best team in the NHL. Vancouver, who sit in the NHL standings with 69 points, plays Columbus tonight at 10 p.m. ET. Boston will be back in action next Tuesday when they return to TD Garden to host the Calgary Flames at 7 p.m. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Bruins got off to a slow start but Brown caught my eye when he gave the Bruins a jolt of energy in the first period. Brown impressed considering he was just called up from Providence today and was inserted into the lineup right away. He definitely gave it his all and it showed.
• Pastrnak finished with two goals both coming in the first period. Pastrnak now has 33 goals, 72 points and 39 assists in 49 games. He has now recorded 70 points in 50 or fewer games for the second time  joining Bill Cowley (2x), Adam Oates (2x), Phil Esposito (6x) and Bobby Orr (6x)

• Linus Ullmark did a nice job in net finishing with 35 saves. Some of the saves he made came during big moments, taking away any momentum Philadelphia tried to get. 

__________________________-

WHO: Bruins (30-9-9) at Flyers (25-18-6)
WHEN: 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. 
TV: NESN, NHL Network
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

Ullmark
Swayman

FLYERS
Farabee - Couturier - Konecny
Lycksell - Frost - Atkinson
Cates - Poehling - Foerster
Deslauriers - Laughton - Hathaway

Sanheim - Drysdale
Seeler - Walker
York - Ristolainen

Ersson
Peterson

PREGAME NOTES
The Bruins visit the Philadelphia Flyers in an afternoon matinee at 12:30 p.m. in the City of Brotherly Love. Boston is coming off a 3-2 overtime win thanks to a Brad Marchand game winner north of the border in Ottawa on Thursday night. Boston enters today tied with Vancouver for the most points in the entire league (69). Boston has recalled Patrick Brown from Providence. 

I am looking for Boston's penalty kill to get back on track today, considering that they are facing a Philadelphia power play that ranks 29th in the NHL at 13.6%. It is worth noting though that the Philadelphia man advantage has scored in eight of their last 10 games but looked sloppy Thursday night in Detroit. The Flyers have been a surprise this season sitting third in the Metropolitan division (56 points) trailing only Carolina and the Rangers. The Bruins need to cut down on the penalties as they are the second most penalized team in the NHL. Only Anaheim has had to play more shorthanded minutes at 197 to Boston's 177. 

Boston's power play will face a nice test today going up against a Philadelphia penalty kill that ranks second in the NHL at 85.6%. The Flyers have scored 10 shorthanded goals this season - but only one in the month of January. Travis Konecny leads the Flyers in goals (22) and points (42) this season. Owen Tippett trails not far behind, second in goals with 18 on the year. However, the Bruins will not have to worry about Tippett as he was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury on January 23rd. Joel Farabee sits right behind Konecny in points at 40 for Philadelphia. The Flyers rank fourth in the league in blocked shots at 875, which is a John Tortorella specialty. Philadelphia leads the NHL with 1,649 shots and are fourth with a 33.7 shot-per-game average. The Bruins are 5-1-0 versus the Flyers over the last two seasons.