Recap: Bruins sting Flyers with 22 seconds left, win 3-2

Another game, another Brad Marchand game-winning goal.

In a fast-paced, entertaining game, the Bruins delivered a crushing blow to the Flyers when Marchand tucked home a loose puck with 22 seconds left to give the B’s their fifth win in a row, a 3-2 final.

The regulation loss prevented the Flyers, who are reeling from five consecutive losses, from gaining at least a point in the tight Metropolitan Division.

Feels good to beat a Philly team! (Cries about the Patriots internally...)

Let’s get to the highlights, all from Chris.

Jakub Voracek took a beautiful pass from Nolan Patrick to put the Flyers on the board just minutes into the game. 1-0 Flyers.

David Pastrnak or Riley Nash tied things at 1-1 by tapping in a loose puck after a great shift by that line. It was originally credited to Pastrnak, then to Nash, but it looks like Nash hit it off Pastrnak’s stick. Either way, good goal. 1-1 tie.

Brian Gionta got his first as a Bruin on a great pass from Zdeno Chara. 2-1 Bruins.

In one Tuukka Rask would like to have back, Jori Lehtera tied it at 2-2 in the second on a shorthanded rush. Pretty bad backcheck by Marchand didn’t help matters. 2-2 tie.

With under 30 seconds to go, Brandon Carlo makes a great pinch to keep the play alive, Zdeno Chara tosses the puck on net, and Pastrchand does the rest. 3-2 Bruins.

And that was it! 3-2 final for the good guys.

Game notes

• Everything is going the Bruins’ way right now. When things are going well, you get bounces on the first and third goals. When they’re not, those pucks hit opposing sticks and skitter out. Ride the wave, man.
• Rick Nash won’t stand out on the score sheet tonight, but he had a pretty solid game after a quiet one last time out. He drew a penalty, had at least one great scoring chance, and set up a couple others.
• The Flyers played like this game was for their playoff lives. While they’re far from out of it with the loss, they’re certainly putting themselves further into the danger zone. The Metro is so tight right now that every point counts. Losing this one in the last 30 seconds of regulation is going to eat at them for a while. It came almost a year to the day after Drew Stafford scored with 6 seconds left in regulation to beat...the Flyers.
• Rask was fine tonight. The Lehtera one is one he should stop, but he was solid when called upon. If he’s still nursing an injury, it didn’t show.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs are the Bruins’ closest competition in the Atlantic playoff race. The Leafs are in a weird portion of their schedule, as they’re only going to play two games in ten days (Monday’s loss to Buffalo and a game Saturday against Pittsburgh). By winning five games in a row while Toronto’s schedule is light, the B’s have padded their lead over third-place Toronto to 7 points with three games still in hand.

Thoughts on the game tonight? Plans for the weekend? See ya Saturday afternoon!