Bobby Brink continues to make his case as Flyers roll to 3-1 preseason win over Bruins

It was what you’d politely call the Boston Bruins’ ‘B’ team, and a mostly NHL group for the Flyers, so the result was about what you’d expect in that scenario: the play mostly tilted toward the Boston net, and the final score in favor of the Flyers.

In the fifth game of their six-game preseason schedule, the Flyers out-shot the Bruins, 24-14 (53-33 in total attempts), and won, 3-1.

Here are a few takeaways from the win.

» READ MORE: Monday’s Flyers lineup offers some clues to how the team might look for the season opener

Bobby Brink continues to make the Flyers think. Forgive the cheesy rhyme, but we’re running out of ways to say it.

The right winger was a big reason the Flyers won a shootout in Boston Friday night, and was mostly good Saturday when the Flyers played him in a back-to-back.

Monday, the Flyers made some roster moves but mostly rolled out a team of NHLers and a few guys — Brink among them — who are seemingly on the roster bubble.

Brink started the game on the team’s fourth line with Ryan Poehling at center and Wade Allison on the opposite wing. As he did Saturday, Brink nearly created instant offense on his first shift, hitting defenseman Travis Sanheim with a pass that nearly set up a goal. The Flyers had three power-play chances in the first period and Brink looked crafty and creative on the left wall. He connected with Noah Cates on another near-goal later in the period.

By the second period, Brink was skating on the first line with Joel Farabee and Sean Couturier.

Flyers coach John Tortorella said that wasn’t the plan, but felt the Flyers were flat in the opening period and wanted to shake things up.

“It’s hard for me to keep Bobby Brink away from a top-six spot right now, as far as how many plays he’s making,” Tortorella said.

“He made a ton of plays tonight. The puck follows him around. You can see he’s looking for that next play. He has that innate ability, that you can’t teach, to see the next play. He continues to impress. We got to keep on going through here the next week and then we’ll see where we all fall.”

It would seem like the opening night third line right wing spot is down to Brink and Tyson Foerster. Brink certainly shined a bit brighter than Foerster did again Monday night, but the latter wasn’t bad by any stretch.

» READ MORE: The Flyers’ new-look fourth line has been one of the few constants so far at training camp

Saturday night vs. the New Jersey Devils, starting goalie Carter Hart started and finished the game. Monday night, the Flyers gave Sam Ersson a full 60 minutes.

Ersson, 23, appears to have the upper-hand in the competition for the backup goalie job.

“It’s hard for me to think about that because it’s really out of my control,” Ersson said when asked about where he stands. “All I can do is focus on the games and try to perform.”

Against a Bruins team that was lacking its full punch, Ersson did what he was supposed to do in that he made the saves he was supposed to make.

The Bruins beat him 15 minutes into the first period on a power play. The Flyers have struggled a bit with their net-front coverage on the penalty kill during this preseason, and Charlie Coyle made a great pass to a wide-open Morgan Geekie, who beat a helpless Ersson upstairs.

Ersson was rarely tested the rest of the way.

“Kind of a weird game,” Ersson said. “A lot of long moments where they didn’t really have that many chances or shots. But that’s a challenge in and of itself. You got to be able to handle those games as well.”

» READ MORE: Sizing up the backup goalie battle as Flyers training camp rolls on

Cam Atkinson hadn’t heard the Wells Fargo Center goal horn for a goal of his since March 13, 2022 after missing all of last season with a neck injury. He opened the scoring for the Flyers with a falling backhand goal that evened the score at 1-1 just over a minute into the second period.

Fifty-eight seconds later, Travis Konecny got a bit of puck luck when a bouncing puck found his stick and he beat Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman for a 2-1 Flyers lead.

The Flyers then made it 3-1 with four minutes remaining in the second frame. Ronnie Attard blasted a shot from the point that Joel Farabee deflected in.

Morgan Frost had two assists on the night.

The Flyers are off Tuesday after playing three games in four nights. They return to practice Wednesday and then finish off their six-game preseason schedule at home Thursday vs. the New York Islanders (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia). ... In a win for karma, Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov, who the team selected with the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft, scored a goal and added two assists in HC Sochi’s win over SKA St. Petersburg, the team that loaned Michkov away after not giving him adequate playing time. ... The Flyers made more roster cuts Monday, leaving their training camp roster at 31 players as the preseason winds down.