Analysis: Flyers beat Bruins 5-1

Bruins Goals

• David Krejci, assist: Kenny Agostino, David Pastrnak

Flyers Goals

• Travis Konecny, assists: Sean Couturier, Nolan Patrick (Power Play)
• Jake Voracek, assists: Radko Gudas, Claude Giroux
• Brandon Manning, assists: Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux
• Wayne Simmonds, assists: Sam Morin, Valterri Filppula (Shorthanded)
• Sean Couturier, assists: Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov (Power Play)

So. Much. Offense. South Philadelphia was rocking Thursday, and it seemed like there were horns going off constantly. (Well, if you call five times constantly), and each goal was scored by a different player, and players that you wanted to see score. We are also really close to seeing that final roster come down. Here are the takeaways from the penultimate preseason game:

1. Obviously one of the highlights of the game was Nolan Patrick. While he was able to get the assist on the Flyers power play goal, he was officially welcomed as a Philadelphia Flyer tonight when he entered his first career fight with David Krejci in the 2nd period. It was a pretty good fight with Patrick getting a lot of good hits on Krejci. I just loved the aggression that Patrick was showing throughout the preseason, but tonight was the the ultimate sign. He wanted to go, he went. People cheered. Patrick’s got a lot of heart and a lot of fight. There is no way that Patrick does not make this team and there’s no way that Patrick doesn’t make an instant impact like he has in the preseason.
2. A bit of a surprise before this one is the call-up of Alex Lyon before the game. Turns out Brian Elliott is getting honored by the University of Wisconsin Thursday night, so he recieved  an award instead of being injured which is very good news. Congrats to him. Neuvirth, however, did not play because he was feeling ill before the game, which meant Lyon went from getting the call up to starting the game and he did very well. He stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal, and made a few very great saves while the Bruins got pressure. I was a bit shaky about Lyon earlier in the preseason, but after tonight’s performance, I hope I don’t see him as much in the regular season (NO GOALIE INJURIES) but I’m also confident that if there is an injury, Alex Lyon will be a very reliable back up.
3. Guys, this is not a drill. The Flyers power play scored. Twice. Even the penalty kill got a shorthanded goal. THIS is the special teams that we were looking for from the Flyers. Going into this game they were 0-for-21. 21 opportunities. They went 2-for-7 Thursday vs the Bruins. The power play looked very aggressive and a lot more put together.

The Flyers play in their final preseason game Sunday night at home vs the Islanders. Hold on Flyers fans, we’re almost there.