On Monday night, the Boston Bruins took on the Philadelphia Flyers in their fourth preseason contest. As is customary in the Bruins and Flyers respective preseason schedules, it was also the completion of a home-and-home set between the two teams.
After Boston was able to hand Philadelphia a 4-3 loss at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday, it was the Flyers who got the last laugh on Monday as they took the Bruins the distance – defeating the hosts at the TD Garden 3-2 in the shootout.
While there is a bit of good, a little bit of bad, and some ugly in Monday night’s game, here is what I took away from it.
Jeremy Swayman Looked Good (Mentally)
Ahead of the game, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said that the plan was to play Jeremy Swayman for the entire game. Michael DiPietro served as the backup, but, fortunately for the Bruins, he was not needed as Swayman put up solid numbers despite suffering the loss.
In his preseason debut, Swayman, made 19 saves on 21 shots and kept Philadelphia shooters off the scoreboard in the first period before allowing two goals in the second. To be fair, the defense did stand tall in front of him in the opening stanza, allowing just three shots on goal, but then came the second period when he allowed two goals on six shots.
Related: Bruins Have Intriguing Backup Goalie Battle
Overall though, the Bruins have to be pleased with the way that he was able to settle in after that and not let the goals against get the best of him. Whether this is the last fans see of Swayman in the preseason remains to be seen, but overall, this game appears to be a harbinger of good things to come for him.
Special Teams Was the Name of the Game
The Bruins had two chances on the power play in the game and were unable to score on eithe of them. Now, looking at that stat, you might say “well, that’s typical of the team in the last few seasons.” You’re not wrong about that, but under a new coach, one would think that something would change.
What doesn’t help for the Bruins is that they were only able to get four shots total (two per chance) with two coming Casey Mittelstadt’s stick. While, it’s nice to see new(ish) players like Mittelstadt getting chances on the man advantage, the trick is getting them to find the back of the net.
Now, while the power play was not the strongest, the penalty kill was extremely strong, going a perfect four for four. While it was nice to see the penalty kill play so well, it’s not exactly good to see it be on the ice for so long.
The penalty-killing units only allowed six shots on goal, kept the Flyers’ shooters at bay, and kept Philadelphia away from the front of the net. Hopefully these are things they can carry on into the regular season.
The Chemistry With Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak is Just Fine
The line of Elias Lindholm, David Pastrnak, and Morgan Geekie seemed to work very well together with the trio finishing with a combined plus-four rating, a goal from Geekie, and an assist each between Pastrnak and Lindholm.
Last season, there didn’t appear to be much chemistry between Lindholm and Pastrnak. The pair appeared to jostle for attention on the ice, but it turns out it wasn’t a fight for attention.
It turns out the two were both battling injuries, but now that both can take turns being a goal scorer and a facilitator. Now that they are back to full health, that line may be spell trouble for opposing teams down the road. Lindholm will look to regain his form this season after having a bit of a down 2024-25, and Pastrnak will look to build on his previous three seasons’ statistics and have another stellar one.
When/Where Do the Bruins Play Next?
The Bruins have the next two days off before heading to Washington D.C. to take on the Capitals in their penultimate preseason game at Capitol One Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Before then, some of the final cuts from the training-camp roster are expected Wednesday.
