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Takeaways: Flyers fall to Bruins 6-3 as their losing streak hits three

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The Flyers went into Boston looking for redemption after heroics from Travis Konecny and Dan Vladar were wasted in last night’s loss to Columbus, and well, they didn’t find it. Rick Tocchet also shuffled the lines, finally giving Trevor Zegras a look at center, which didn’t go too well. Despite injury scares, both Konecny and Rasmus Ristolainen remained in the Flyers’ lineup, but they lost yet another player mid-game.

The basics

First period: 9:49 – Viktor Arvidsson (Casey Mittelstadt, Frasier Minten), 10:30 – Pavel Zacha (Morgan Geekie, Jonathan Aspirot)
Second period: 2:27 – Fraser Minten (Casey Mittelstadt), 3:16 – Travis Konecny (Unassisted), 16:12 – Casey Mittelstadt (Andrew Peeke, Fraser Minten), 18:40 – Tanner Jeannot (Andrew Peeke, Sean Kuraly), 19:05 – Nikita Grebenkin (Travis Konecny)
Third period: 16:30 – Marat Khusnutdinov (Charlie McAvoy, Jonathan Aspirot) (EN), 18:19 – Matvei Michkov (Denver Barkey, Owen Tippett)
SOG: 36 (PHI) – 27 (BOS)

Grebenkin pops in increased role

Let’s start with a positive. With Zegras moving to center, a spot opened alongside Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny on what has been the Flyers’ top line this season. Enter Nikita Grebenkin. Grebenkin has bounced in and out of the lineup, spending most of his time in fourth-line minutes with occasional spot duty higher up. On this night, however, he was given a big opportunity with better linemates to work around.

After the Flyers fell behind 2–0, it briefly appeared that Dvorak had pulled them within one following Grebenkin’s hard drive to the net, however the play was waved off due to goaltender interference. Grebenkin stayed aggressive, though, creating another chance by driving the net again and drawing a penalty on Hampus Lindholm. It was a welcome change to see a Flyers forward consistently get pucks on goal, especially after a handful of early odd-man rushes failed to even produce a shot.

Grebenkin’s impact carried into the middle frame. He helped set up the Flyers’ first goal by firing a shot off the rush and crashing in on the forecheck. With support from Dvorak, the pressure forced a Bruins turnover that Konecny buried. Then, with under a minute remaining in the period, Grebenkin was rewarded with a goal of his own, finishing the rebound of a Konecny breakaway to cut Boston’s lead to three.

Another blowout

A rough stretch for the Flyers continues. For much of the season, a frequently cited stat was how well the Flyers responded after losses, but that trend has flipped. In January, they have allowed five goals against in half of their games, and after suffering a six-game losing streak earlier in the month, their current skid now sits at three. The bounce-back ability that defined the early part of the season has disappeared, and it is starting to bury them in the standings.

The Flyers have been outscored 15-6 (with some empty net goals) this week and are losing in embarrassing fashion. These embarrassing, blowout losses and long losing streaks were supposed to be an area of improvement under the Tortorella years, and was a driving force behind the decision to bring Rick Tocchet in. Instead, the same issues have continued to resurface. The defensive breakdowns continue to plague this team, and the stifled offense is only exacerbating the team’s issues.

Checking in on Z at C

Perhaps the most intriguing storyline surrounding this game was the decision to play Trevor Zegras at center. There had been plenty of questions about whether he would ever get game reps down the middle, and amid a cold stretch, he was finally given that opportunity. Centering Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink, the line was underwhelming at best. They logged the fewest five-on-five minutes, were clearly outplayed, and finished with a 22 percent Corsi-For rating. They were on the ice for a goal against and owned just 12.9 percent of the expected goals generated in their minutes. They were by far the Flyers’ least effective line tonight.

It is worth noting that this came in the second half of a back-to-back, and Zegras is also in the midst of a lull, so the circumstances were far from ideal. Still, he did not show much in this outing, and the trend is becoming increasingly concerning. Perhaps the Olympic break will provide a reset for Zegras, who, along with Dan Vladar, had been a major driver of the Flyers’ winning record earlier in the season. With Tyson Foerster out of the lineup and Michkov’s sophomore slump, a dip in Zegras’ offensive output led to Konecny having to carry the team on his back offensively.

It will be interesting to see whether Tocchet gives Zegras another look at center after how poorly this experiment went, but with the Flyers in need of answers down the middle, letting it play out a bit may not be the worst option. It is not as if Zegras, or the team, had been playing particularly well with him on the wing of late anyway.

Konecny continues to put on a one-man show

Following his hat-trick in a losing effort against the Blue Jackets, Konecny continued his hot streak by opening the scoring in this one. Konecny found open space and the puck found him after solid work along the boards from Grebenkin and Dvorak.

It was Konecny’s 21st of the season, putting him on a 33-goal pace, which is the career high that he set in the 2023-24 season. He has really stepped up lately, surpassing Zegras as the team’s leading point scorer. Konecny was also a major factor in the team’s second goal, tracking a wide shot from Nikita Zadorov that flew out of the zone, beating Andrew Peeke in a foot race and getting not one but two grade-A chances on Swayman before Grebenkin cleaned up the rebound.

It’s great to see Konecny stepping up as a leader with his play of late and willing these games to be competitive at all, but the Flyers need more from their other forwards. If this team is going to stay in the playoff hunt, Konecny’s line can’t be the only one to threaten offensively.

Ersson struggles, leaves with injury

It is no secret that Sam Ersson has struggled this season. He entered the game with a .860 save percentage, a number that dipped further after this outing. While he did make several impressive saves on high-danger chances, a couple of the goals he allowed were soft. Just as it began to look like Ersson might be turning a corner, any positive momentum was brought to a halt.

To make matters worse, Ersson then left the game, with Vladar taking over to start the third period. The injury appeared to occur late in the second, when Ersson moved left to right with a couple of bodies around the crease as he attempted to make a save.

Data referenced via Natural Stat Trick.

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