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The scenery was beautiful with a bright sun setting in the first period.
It all got dark from there for the Flyers in their NHL outdoor game in Lake Tahoe on Sunday.
The Flyers ceded another hat trick to David Pastrnak and scored four second period goals en route to a nasty 7-3 loss to the Bruins in Stateline, Nevada.
Taking the outdoors without six important players, the odds were against the Flyers before the puck dropped. They needed Carter Hart to be nearly extinct. Instead, the 22-year-old goaltender was out of the game in the third period.
The Flyers (8-4-3) are 0-3-2 against Boston this season and 8-1-1 against everyone.
The Bruins (11-3-2) beat the Flyers 23-12 in all five games. The Flyers see Boston three more times.
• Hart looked at the opposite of himself. He had real trouble spotting pucks and stopping shots. It usually makes as many of these stops.
Outdoor games are generally the most difficult for goalies. Who knows if the elements got the better of him. There were audio issues with the mic after Hart’s game. He answered a couple of questions but his answers were inaudible. Not his fault.
The Flyers were unable to test the ice and sightlines this weekend before the warm-ups.
Either way, Hart struggled a lot and the game spiraled off the Flyers. Boston owned the second period with goals from Pastrnak, Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle and Nick Ritchie. The Bruins beat the Flyers 15-3 in the middle frame. For the entire game, Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask had to make just 16 saves, including 11 in the first period.
It was a 2-2 game in the first intermission, then it was not a game in the second intermission.
The Bruins have twice scored six goals on Hart this season. It won’t be a common occurrence in Hart’s career, but the young keeper has been inconsistent so far. He also faced a ton of gunfire.
The Flyers were underqualified, they weren’t very good against one of the best clubs in the NHL, and Hart wasn’t good at all. It was just a recipe for disaster.
Brian Elliott stopped 11 of 12 shots in the third period.
• In the first four games between the Flyers and the Bruins, Boston had dominated the third period. The last 20 minutes were the Bruins’ biggest difference and a perfect 4-0-0 against the Flyers. They had beaten the Flyers 11-5 in the last stanza. In three of their four wins, they have erased a deficit in the third period.
The Flyers had actually yielded just four goals to Boston in the first two combined periods of those four games.
Boston reversed that trend in Lake Tahoe by turning play on the Flyers in the second period. While the Flyers’ trip to Lake Tahoe wasn’t already spoiled a bit by the under-six-man squad and many adjustments on Saturday, the Bruins completely ruined it with four goals in the middle frame. They scored six goals in the first two periods.
“To tell you the truth, they are obviously important players, but we had a good team tonight and we showed it in the first half, we played extremely smart and hard,” said the Flyers head coach. , Alain Vigneault. “A few changes have escaped. of us in that second, but our guys fought and competed. And at the end of the day, as a coach, coach, and organization, you want your guys to come out and compete. We would love to have a few of these changes in the second one, but they sidelined us a bit there.
The Flyers had a 2-1 lead at one point and their first period was solid. They were beaten 27-8 the rest of the time.
• The Flyers limited Pastrnak to one goal in four games last season, including the round robin.
Pastrnak has dominated them this season with eight points (six goals, two assists) in three games.
There is no denying that the Flyers’ shooting and goal prevention issues span 15 games in the season. These areas were essential for the Vigneault club last season.
• Due to concerns about the ice surface due to the extreme sun, the NHL changed the game start time twice before Sunday. The puck was dropped at 4:59 am PT with a glaring sunset. Although aesthetic for the viewer, it had to be a challenge for the players.
“I thought the hardest part was probably the first one with all the sun and being blinded by the sun in some places – it was a bit dangerous at times,” said Sean Couturier. “It was the same for both teams. In the second and third I think the environment, the playing field was better for both teams. They were better than us; we have to give them credit. “
That’s a quote the NHL should take into account when planning future away games.
More: Views of the Flyers’ NHL Outdoors Game at Lake Tahoe
• One bright spot for the Flyers was that James van Riemsdyk continued to hum offensively. He had a three-point night (one goal, two assists) and accumulated 21 points in 15 games.
Couturier (one goal, one assist) and Kevin Hayes (two assists) also had multi-point games, while Joel Farabee tied his goals tally last season by scoring his eighth scorer.
The Flyers employed 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with defenseman Mark Friedman entering the lineup and playing a right winger.
• Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton and Justin Braun remained on the NHL’s COVID protocol list on Sunday night. All six have missed both Flyers games since the club’s seven-day NHL shutdown, forced by multiple cases of COVID-19 within the team.
Giroux missed consecutive games for the first time since February 20 and 25, 2016, when he was out for three consecutive games due to injury. Vigneault confirmed that Giroux tested positive for the coronavirus on February 9, when the captain and Braun were placed on the COVID protocol list. Voracek was added to the roster on February 11, Lindblom and Laughton on February 12, and Konecny was the most recent addition on February 14.
There are a number of factors that explain why a player may be placed on the COVID protocol list. A player absent due to the COVID protocol does not necessarily mean the player has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Players who test positive cannot join team activities for at least 14 days from the initial positive test.
• The Flyers return home Monday, practice Tuesday and host the Rangers Wednesday (7 p.m. ET / NBCSN).
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