Bruins fall to lowly Flyers, 3-1

The Boston Bruins looked outmatched, out willed and overwhelmed Saturday afternoon, losing to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1.  A lack of effort, urgency, and desire yet again cost the Bruins first place in the Northeast Division. In defeat, glaring deficiencies throughout the B’s lineup were magnified. A decimated Flyers team was able to control play all afternoon. Boston has fallen to a bleak 2-4-1 in its last 7 contests.

Once again the Black-and-Gold, plagued by a sluggish start, dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of. The Flyers snapped a 4 game skid and looked as if they and the Bruins had flip flopped positions in the standings. Philly scored once in each period, getting goals from Mike Knuble, Matt Read, and Ruslan Fedotenko. Nathan Horton, scoring his tenth of the year, collected the B’s lone tally.  

Nothing seemed to go Boston’s way in this one. Pucks hopped over their sticks, shots went high and wide, and the physically imposing play was nowhere to be found. An injury ridden Philadelphia defense limited Boston in their attacking end, forcing them to aimless dump one puck in after the other. The Bruins failure to win possession was apparent and the inability to execute at necessary moments squashed any comeback hopes.

The lifeless, nonchalant style of play has to be alarming to Boston and serve as a wake up call. The B’s looked as if they were sleepwalking and the Flyers pounced all over them. Besides the glimmer of hope Nathan Horton provided in the third, not a single Bruin player had a noteworthy performance.

The uninspired effort put forth against the second worst team in the East is awfully unsettling. The April 3 trading deadline cannot come fast enough as the Bruins have been stuck in a rut for some time now. Unfortunately it looks like it’s shake up or bust for Boston. The lack of scoring calls for the acquisition of a top six forward. A team once characterized by its grit and toughness has regressed a in nature. The Bruins are fatigued and are in dire need of reinforcements on the blue line.  Adding a top 4 D-man needs to be strongly considered as well.