5 Things: Flyers vs. Bruins

For the second time this week, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (4-6-1) face Jim Montgomery's Boston Bruins (4-6-1). After playing each other at TD Garden on Tuesday, the teams will meet at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. Game time is 1:00 p.m. EDT.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with a 24-hour online simulcast on Flyers Radio.

After Saturday, the season series against the Bruins will be two-thirds complete. The clubs will conclude their season series on December 7th in Boston. On Tuesday night, goals from Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee (empty net) led the Flyers to a 2-0 win at TD Garden.

The Flyers enter Saturday's game having won two straight games – and three of the last four games – for the first time in the young 2024-25 season. Saturday's game begins the Flyers' 14-game November schedule (eight home, six away).

Here are five things to watch on Saturday afternoon.

1. Ersson on a heater

Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson is a contender for the NHL's Three Stars of the Week award if he puts in another strong performance against the Bruins on Saturday.

On Tuesday in Boston, Ersson posted a 25-save shutout. Two nights later, at home against the St. Louis Blues, Ersson had another shutout for two and a half periods. Ultimately, he saved 20 of 21 shots in the 2-1 win.

Ersson has won each of his last three starts (against Minnesota, at Boston and against St. Louis). The stats are still a bit volatile at this point in the season, but it's notable that Ersson has lowered his goals against season average to 2.72 and lowered his save percentage to just under 90 percent (.897). The final 30 minutes of the high-scoring win over Minnesota and the second of back-to-back games against Washington were not goalie-friendly hockey games for any goaltender.

Depending on his performance, workload in certain games and assuming he stays healthy, Ersson could start about a dozen of the 14 games in November. The Flyers don't have any back-to-back/three-in-four/four-in-six game clusters on the schedule until Thanksgiving week.

2. Brink and Farabee reunited

During the preseason, wingers Farabee and Bobby Brink showed good chemistry as linemates. They opened the regular season on a line with 18-year-old prospect Jett Luchanko (now with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League).

Farabee came out of the gates by scoring a point in each of the first three games (1g, 2a). After going through a rough patch, like most of his teammates, Farabee has put together another three-game point streak in the last three games (1g, 2a).

Brink started the season with a personal points streak of four games (1g, 3a). Some trouble on the defensive side of the puck led to reduced ice time (8:57 TOI at home vs. Washington) and then DNDs in three straight games (at Washington vs. Minnesota and vs. Montreal).

Brink has been back in the Flyers' lineup for the last two games and is now reunited with Farabee on the third line at 5-on-5 and the second power play unit. With three minutes left in Thursday's game against St. Louis, Brink and Farabee scored the game-winning goal.

3. Puck possession and shot suppression

The Flyers blocked 28 Bruins shots in Tuesday's win and 24 (led by a half-dozen blocks from Nick Seeler) against the Blues. While blocking shots and keeping play within your own end zone is undeniably important, today's NHL is a very puck possession-focused game.

The Flyers still spend too much time at their own end of the ice, especially in the game against Boston, although not many shots are finding their way onto the net. If you defend too much, sooner or later you'll end up with a costly mishap or an unfriendly puck bounce.

As far as cleaning up the team's defensive structure in their own zone, things have moved in the right direction over the last week. The outbreaks are also gradually improving. But the Flyers need to start spending more time on offense and less time on defense. On offense, the Flyers need to become even more opportunistic and improve their attacking skills at the net. Too many shot attempts still miss the goal or go over the net.

4. Penalty kill rolling, power play has to slow down

Last season, the Flyers prided themselves on becoming one of the best penalty-killing (and elite short-handed scoring) clubs in the entire NHL.

On Tuesday in Boston, a long 5-on-3 kill was the springboard to the ultimate victory. Against the Blues, Philly only received two minor penalties and took a 2-2 lead in the PK. Overall, the Flyers rank 5th in PK with 87.8 percent through the first eleven games of the season.

The Flyers' power play was red-hot until the last few games, but went 0-8 against the Habs (0-3), Bruins (0-2) and Blues (0-3). Special teams are prone to hot and cold periods due to their rhythmic nature. Still, the Flyers need to make the final three games a soon-to-be-forgotten little bump in the road before it becomes a bigger problem.

To date, the Bruins are at 76.0 percent on the PK. They are at 14.9 percent on the power play.

5. Behind Enemy Lines: Boston Bruins

A few years ago, during Alain Vigneault's tenure as head coach, the Flyers had an upcoming game against a quality opponent that was going through a rough patch. The former head coach was asked whether the Flyers caught the opponent at the perfect time or at the worst possible time.

“Depends on how we play against them,” the replay said. “Ask me again after that.”

The same scenario – and the same pregame assessment – ​​now applies to the return game against the Bruins. Boston has lost five of its last six games, including Tuesday's home loss to the Flyers despite a strong performance from Joonas Korpisalo. The Bruins then suffered an 8-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Will the Flyers catch Montgomery's club at the best possible time or will they face a major setback? Either way, the Flyers need to focus on making life as difficult as possible for the Bruins on Saturday afternoon. If the Flyers play right, they have a legitimate chance to beat the Bruins twice in the same week.