Not even halfway to the season’s quarter pole, the Bruins, last year’s regular-season champs in the Eastern Conference, have seen circumstances cast them as survivalists, the NHL’s version of the Spirit of ’76, drummer, fife player, and flag carrier. Their overall effectiveness diminished by the losses of Lucic (broken finger), Savard (broken foot), and Shawn Thornton (injury undisclosed), they nonetheless held the lead briefly here, 2-1 early in the second period, before ultimately succumbing to Claude Giroux’s shootout goal.
Giroux, Philly’s third shooter in the bonus round, connected on Tuukka Rask (third start this year) with a doorstep forehander that slipped inside the right post after Boston shooters Blake Wheeler and Patrice Bergeron failed to put their shots by Ray Emery. Michael Ryder followed Giroux with a chance to extend sudden death, but the club’s top right winger rang a short-range forehander off the left post, snuffing out the Bruins’ bid to win on back-to-back nights.
“Bergy had [Emery] beat on his shot, but he lost the puck off his stick,’’ mused coach Claude Julien, who was pleased to see what he felt were decent efforts in consecutive games for the first time this season. “Ryder’s shot hit the post. I guess this is why hockey purists don’t like shootout . . . sometimes it’s just luck, but it’s what you get in today’s NHL.’’
For the most part, what the Bruins got was a decent, cohesive effort against a Flyer club also still in search of consistency. The Flyers could have run off with it early, if not for some solid stops by Rask, who saw the Flyers roll up a 27-16 shot lead over the first two periods. But even with all those shots, it was deadlocked after two periods, 3-3, and it would remain that way through the third and overtime.
Chris Pronger started the scoring, handing Philly a 1-0 lead at 12:03 of the first when his long-range one-timer deflected by Rask. The Bruins tied it on a Derek Morris one-timer from the left point during a power play, captain Zdeno Chara sending over a blind backhand relay from above the opposite circle.
