Giroux's goal lifts Flyers past Bruins in OT
BOSTON - While Zac Rinaldo played with recklessness, his former Flyers teammates showed resourcefulness Wednesday night at TD Garden. Claude Giroux capped a late comeback with an overtime power-play goal with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left, giving the Flyers a dramatic 5-4 win in Boston and ending a six-game losing streak to the Bruins.
BOSTON - While Zac Rinaldo played with recklessness, his former Flyers teammates showed resourcefulness Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Claude Giroux capped a late comeback with an overtime power-play goal with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left, giving the Flyers a dramatic 5-4 win in Boston and ending a six-game losing streak to the Bruins.
"The guys a showed lot of character, for sure," said goalie Steve Mason, whose team overcame a late 4-2 deficit.
Third-period goals by Giroux and Wayne Simmonds knotted the score at 4-4, and Giroux's left-circle one-timer off a pass from Mark Streit (three assists) kept the Bruins winless in four home games this season.
Mason, who relieved the injured Michal Neuvirth at the start of the second period, kept the Flyers within 4-2 with a sensational save on David Pastrnak with 13:26 left in regulation. The video review showed the puck did not cross the goal line.
"A second-effort save, and we kind of had a little breather after that, so maybe that was the turning point," Giroux said. "The whole period after that, the whole team started playing with second effort, and that's the kind of team we want to be."
Giroux scored with 12:12 remaining after a bad clear by goalie Tuukka Rask, and Simmonds tied it with a left-circle tracer with 9:36 to go.
Despite playing on back-to-back nights, the Flyers were the fresher team in the third period, outshooting the Bruins, 11-6, and scoring the only two goals in the session.
As the first period ended, former Flyer Rinaldo, his elbows up high, leveled Sean Couturier into the boards. It took Couturier a few minutes to get up, and he woozily skated to the locker room.
He did not return after suffering what general manager Ron Hextall called an upper-body injury.
Rinaldo, who had a penchant for bad penalties when he played with the Flyers, was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He is expected to receive his fourth career suspension.
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol was fuming about the hit. "No place for it," he said.
Rinaldo, who said he "did the best I could to stay within the rules and deliver a clean body check," was asked if he was surprised he received a game misconduct.
"Yes and no," he said. "Different refs have different opinions. It's unfortunate he's hurt. That's the last thing I wanted to do. . . especially someone I know personally."
The Flyers won't meet Rinaldo and the Bruins again until Jan. 13 at the Wells Fargo Center. Some players figure to have that game circled on their calendars.
While killing Rinaldo's five-minute penalty, Chris Kelly deflected Loui Eriksson's shot past Mason to put the Bruins ahead, 3-2, with 15:29 left in the second period. It was a double deflection and the first shot faced by Mason, who relieved Neuvirth at the start of the second.
Late in the first period, Neuvirth bent over in agony after getting accidentally hit by Patrice Bergeron's stick in the mask as the forward scored Boston's second goal, but he remained in the game for the remainder of the period.
A little over four minutes after Kelly's tally, Mason allowed a soft goal as Jimmy Hayes scored on a bad-angle shot near the right goal line. Hayes beat Mason to the short side, which is where Dallas scored both of its goals in its 2-1 win Tuesday.
Kelly's shorthanded goal came during a five-minute Flyers power play, thanks to Rinaldo's major penalty, to start the second period, and it produced zero Flyers shots.
"I think that was the worst power play we've had in the last 41/2 years I've been here," Simmonds said. "That's unacceptable, but I thought we showed good character in battling back. We came out in the third and we came out hard."
Mistakes by Giroux (an errant pass and a four-minute high-sticking penalty) led to a pair of Boston goals in the first period, enabling the Bruins to deadlock the score at 1-1 and 2-2.
Giroux redeemed himself with two late goals, pushing the Flyers to 3-2-1 heading into Saturday's game with the New York Rangers.
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