The Philadelphia Flyers won’t have long to dwell on Monday’s 6-0 shutout loss in Boston.
Another game awaits Tuesday when the Anaheim Ducks come to Philadelphia.
The Flyers had won seven of eight heading into Boston, where they faced the owners of the league’s best record. The Bruins have lost in regulation only five times all season, and they showed why on Monday.
“We wash this one and go back to work,” center Scott Laughton said after the Flyers saw their five-game road winning streak snapped.
Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella has his sights set on Tuesday, too.
“We had a good start, gave one for free and never got caught up after that,” Tortorella said. “I’m not worried about the locker room. I’m anxious to see how we play tomorrow.”
Goaltender Carter Hart was replaced by Sam Ersson with 12:25 left in the second period after Philadelphia fell behind 4-0.
Ersson stopped 11 of 13 shots in relief and it is unclear which goaltender will start against the Ducks.
Before the blowout loss, the Flyers appeared to elevate their level of play with a home-and-home sweep against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday and Saturday.
But first, it will be important for the Flyers to erase the bad memories of a tough outing in Boston.
“It’s a good start, and then when they popped a few on us, they kind of deflated us a little bit,” forward Travis Konecny said. “I didn’t think we responded terribly but we just kind of let it get away from us.”
The reeling Ducks, meanwhile, dropped their fourth in a row Monday, an overtime loss in Pittsburgh.
Anaheim held a 3-2 lead with less than a minute to go in regulation but couldn’t hold on. Bryan Rust tied the game with 25 seconds left in third, then Jake Guentzel won it 33 seconds into overtime.
John Klingberg and Adam Henrique scored power-play goals while Trevor Zegras added an even-strength tally. Henrique and Zegras lead the Ducks with 14 goals apiece.
Nonetheless, the result was another loss in a maddening season that has seen the Ducks win on the road only four times.
“It’s the roller coaster of the game,” Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins told Bally Sports West postgame. “We played a really solid good road game and came into a place to play a team that was extremely hungry. We got it right down to the wire.”
The Ducks were competitive most of the game. This has been a troubling trend for much of the season as they often play well early only to have a key miscue or two be the difference.
“We’re gonna take a whole lot of good from the game,” Eakins said. “We’re getting to a point now where we’ve got to finish it off. It literally came down to one assignment taking three steps the wrong way.”
Such as the Rust and Guentzel goals.
One thing about the loss to the Penguins is that the Ducks can at least take some positive vibes from the game. Their previous three losses were blowouts (Anaheim was outscored a combined 19-5).
Unlike their three previous losses — 7-1 to the Boston Bruins, 6-2 to the Edmonton Oilers and 6-2 to the New Jersey Devils — this performance was much more positive.
“Overall, a good effort,” Eakins said. “We’ve got to finish it off.”
–Field Level Media
