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 With the Bruins leading 4-2 with 13:26 left in regulation, Bruins
right winger David Pastrnak fired toward what had been an open net.
Sprawling Flyers goaltender Steve Mason stopped the shot, but it
looked like the glove that snatched the puck might have been over
the goal line. There was nothing conclusive upon review, the goal
didn't count -- and the Flyers stormed back and won the game.
"(He made a) second-effort save and we kind of had a little breather
after that and said maybe that's the turning point," center Claude
Giroux said after scoring in the third period and then in overtime
to give the Flyers a 5-4 victory, ending their six-game losing
streak against the Bruins.
"I think the whole period after that the whole team starting playing
with second effort and that's the kind of team that we want to be.
We want to work hard and the first two periods it just wasn't the
case."
Giroux made it 4-3 to pull the Flyers within one just over a minute
after Mason's big save, and right winger Wayne Simmonds tied it 2:36
later to force overtime. Then, the Flyers got a power play on a
hooking call against Bruins center Ryan Spooner in the extra frame,
and Giroux scored the winner to complete the comeback.
"It was a big moment, but at the same time, those are things that I
expect (from) myself," said Mason, who replaced an injured Michal
Neuvirth after the first period. "I think what the team expects from
their goaltenders. Turns out that, in tonight's game, it kind of
kick-started things and that's a good thing."
Giroux, the Flyers' best player, was a minus-2 and was guilty of a
double minor for high sticking, four of his six penalty minutes in
the first two periods -- the Bruins scoring on the first half of the
double minor.
The loss kept the Bruins (2-3-1) winless in four home games, with
goaltender Tuukka Rask allowing 19 goals in the four games.
The Flyers lost both Neuvirth and center Sean Couturier to
upper-body injuries after the first period.
Couturier was flattened by Bruins forward Zac Rinaldo in the final
seconds of the first period. He didn't return and the Flyers opened
the second period without a shot on the ensuing five-minute power
play after Rinaldo's major penalty and ejection. Boston left winger
Chris Kelly actually scored shorthanded to give the Bruins a 3-2
lead.
Neuvirth, who was hunched over for several seconds after allowing
Boston's second goal with 2:36 left in the first period, didn't
return for the second.
Rinaldo, who has been suspended three times by the league,
maintained after the game that the hit was clean but admitted he
expects to hear from the league.
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"I don't want to comment on the hit," said Mason, who made 16 saves.
"We didn't like it, obviously, and we'll leave it at that. We didn't
like the hit at all."
Boston center Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist in the first
period and the Bruins scored three straight goals to turn a 2-1
first-period deficit into a 4-2 lead after two.
Bergeron has seven points in the first six games of the season.
"When you score four goals you should have more than enough to win a
game, and too many slow reactions defensively and lack of
communication and poor decisions," said Bergeron. "It ends up
hurting us big time."
Right winger Jakub Voracek, who set up the winner, assisted on both
Giroux goals while center David Krejci and right winger Loui
Ericsson had two assists apiece for Boston.
Krejci, who leads the NHL in scoring with 11 points, has at least
one point in all six games.
Left winger Pierre-Edward Bellemare and center Sam Gagner also
scored for the Flyers.
Right wingers Brett Connolly and Jimmy Hayes scored for the other
goals for Boston.
NOTES: The Flyers have just five wins in their last 20 games against
the Bruins. ... Boston LW Matt Beleskey was out with an upper-body
injury. ... Flyers C Brayden Schenn was out of the lineup with a
shoulder injury, but his brother, D Luke Schenn, was back after
three games as a healthy scratch. LW R.J. Umberger returned after
missing three games with an upper-body injury. Both Luke Schenn and
Umberger had assists. ... The Flyers, 1-1 in OT games, begin a
three-game homestand against the New York Rangers on Saturday. The
Bruins, who reached overtime for the first time under the new 3-on-3
format, visit the New York Islanders on Friday night.
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reserved.]
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