Flyers Dominated by Pastrnak & Bruins in 6-2 Loss

The Philadelphia Flyers suffered their fifth straight regulation loss to fall to a 25-19-6 record on the season, crushed by forward David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins by a score of 6-2. After the Flyers seemed all but destined to make a playoff spot before their losing streak began, they now seem destined to fall flat after losing five big games and getting no points out of them. What were some takeaways from their defeat?

Pastrnak Destroys All Momentum

Ironically, the Flyers weren’t just the better team to start the game — they were significantly better. As if it were destiny, Pastrnak had another one of his signature contests against the Flyers. Scoring two goals and an assist, he continues to approach the goal-per-game mark against the Orange and Black. Sitting at 26 in 29 games along with 16 assists, there might be no player more dominant against Philadelphia than he is in NHL history. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, he has had four hat-tricks against them — this is tied for the most against the Flyers in history, and he’s just 27 years of age.

After Pastrnak’s opening goal with just over six minutes remaining in the first period, it was all mayhem. The Bruins scored three straight goals afterward in the last minutes of the period and took the life out of the Flyers. They were on their way to actually winning and ending their skid, but the superstar forward had other ideas.

The Flyers went from playing relatively good hockey to falling completely flat once Pastrnak struck. They lost virtually every puck battle and made goaltender Sam Ersson’s life a living nightmare. It was unfortunate to see them play so promisingly and then have that flipped on its head, but it was a nice reality check for them. They simply cannot let their guard down for that long.

Flyers in Mediocrity Purgatory

Somehow, when the Flyers sold off as many assets as they could in the offseason, they returned to what they were trying to get away from — complete mediocrity. That sounds a bit harsh, but their fate when they’ve faced superstar players has been the same in January. They lost 5-2 to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, 7-4 to Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche, 6-3 to Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and now 6-2 against Pastrnak and the Bruins. They have played some great games against top teams without…