Flyers frus­trated by Boston’s goal­tender

A day after their overtime win, Michael Raffl and the Philadelphia Flyers (18-15-5) suffered a narrow 2:4 home defeat to the Boston Bruins (20-10-6). Patrice Bergeron (8th minute, 18th minute/PP) gave the visitors a 2:0 lead in the first period, but Jakob Voracek (22nd minute) and Shayne Gostisbehere (25th minute) levelled the scores early in the middle period.

Brad Marchand restored the Bruins’ lead with a short-handed goal in the 49th minute. When the Flyers pulled goaltender Carter Hart late on, Bergeron sealed the final score.

Boston had goaltender Jeremy Swayman to thank for much of the win, as he saved 40 of the 42 shots he faced, while Hart faced just 25 shots at the other end. Raffl was on the ice for ten minutes and registered one shot on goal. The Flyers are fifth in the East Division, directly behind the Bruins. The New York Islanders await on the road on Thursday night (CEST).

The Carolina Hurricanes (26-9-3) claimed a 5:2 win over Central Division leaders the Florida Panthers (26-10-4) in the top-of-the-table clash. Aleksander Barkov (12th minute, 39th minute) gave the visitors the lead twice, but Vincent Trochek (39th minute/PP, 41th minute/PP) equalised for the Hurricanes on both occasions. In the final period, Jordan Staal (49th minute/59th minute) put them on course for victory. Jesper Fast sealed the final score in the last minute with a shot into the empty Panthers net.