3 Stars: Concern mounts as Bruins sweep season series with Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers’ 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at the TD Bank Garden on Saturday from the perspective of three players.

 

3. Jay Rosehill

Jay Rosehill makes what I anticipate could be his only lifetime appearance in our 3 Stars recaps. No. 1, he did a very Rosehill thing, tagging Bruins forward Shawn Thornton in a fight midway through the first period. Good brawl, good win.

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Then he did a very un-Rosehill thing, showing off some smooth stick-handling down low and slipping the puck past Boston netminder Tuukka Rask to knot the score at two in the second. Rosey took the feed from Michal Raffl at the side of the cage, then went from backhand to forehand like some kind of hockey player to put the orange and black in the game.

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Rosehill skated less than six minutes, fewer than any other player on the ice on Saturday, but he certainly made the most of his time out there.

 

2. Loui Eriksson

The right winger managed to rack up four assists and paced all B’s skaters with seven shots on goal in over 20 minutes of ice time, more than any forward on the team.

 

1. Milan Lucic

The honors could easily go to David Krejci, who posted a goal and an assist and was an absolute force to contend with. Lucic lit the lamp twice though—including a backbreaker of a tip-in in the third period to put Boston up by two—plus added a helper to really fill out the stat sheet.

But who really cares which specific players did the Flyers in, because really it was a team effort. After registering 50 shots on Rask in their meeting two weeks ago, the Bruins really tightened up in front of their goaltender this time around, cutting Philadelphia down to 26 this time around.

The far larger problem here is the Bruins 5-2 victory on Saturday marks a three-game series sweep over the orange and black this season. If the Flyers are to have any hope of hoisting the Stanley Cup, the road will likely go through Boston eventually, which is running away with first place in the Eastern Conference.

Granted, the Flyers took this very team to the limit in a shootout loss in their previous encounter. The Bruins also own a smothering 6-1 victory however.

Let’s face it: as of today, there is little indication Philadelphia could hang with Boston over a full seven-game series. And while the Flyers went down valiantly on Sunday, another loss didn’t go a long way toward quelling such concerns.

Worse still, Philly is suddenly in danger of facing Boston in the first round. If Columbus can catch the Flyers—now 1-4-2 in their last seven—and Detroit maintains a points lead for the Wild Card spot, the Bruins will be the draw. A lot has to happen with five games remaining, but it remains a distinct possibility.

Regardless, the Bruins loom as a major hurdle in the postseason.

 

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