PHILADELPHIA — Flyers coach John Tortorella was right about at least one thing in his team’s 6-2 loss Saturday to the Bruins.
You can’t blame goalie Sam Ersson for the defeat. It was a team effort.
The Bruins skated rings around the Flyers in a four-minute block of the first period in which they scored four goals, two by star David Pasternak. In those four minutes the Bruins moved the puck with such precision it looked like a flow drill.
Though Tortorella benched goalie Sam Ersson for Cal Peterson, who gave up the other two Bruins goals, the game was effectively over.
That’s five straight losses for the Flyers (25-19-6, 56 points), who before that slump had won five in a row. The swing hasn’t dampened the big-picture optimism of Torts, who figured he’d know what kind of squad he had by the end of January.
“I like our team; two weeks ago, when we played Dallas, was probably the best I’ve seen a team play under me in a number of years,” Tortorella said. “We’ve lost ourselves a little bit here. I think we’ve lost confidence, offensively, although I think we generated some offense today. That’s how the league works sometimes. You have some good weeks and you have some struggles. We’re just going to put our heads down and see if we can solve some problems and get better.”
Ersson, for the record, has allowed 15 goals in the last four games, all losses. He’s 12-9-3 and the Flyers have been outscored 16-6 over that time.
The nine-day All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Flyers.
“It was really tough going down 4-0 but we never quit,” said Tyson Foerster, who scored both Flyers goals. “This break will be good for us.”
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The Flyers late Friday agreed to a contract extension with center Ryan Poehling, who would have been a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the season.
That followed the earlier announcement of a mega-bucks extension given winger Owen Tippett, whose deal averages $6.2 million over eight years. Tippett is on injured reserve.
Poehling agreed to a two-year deal worth $3.8 million extension.
“It’s another guy we wanted to keep around,” general manager Danny Briere said Saturday.
Meanwhile, pending restricted free agent Bobby Brink has not been extended. He began the season with the Flyers but recently was sent to the Phantoms, ostensibly to get playing time, according to Tortorella.
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James van Riemsdyk – remember him? – scored in the second period to give the Bruins a 5-0 lead. It was the eighth goal of the season and 30th point by JVR, 34, who played 527 games over eight seasons in two tenures for the Flyers.
Source: Berkshire mont