Bruins blank Flyers as Marchand returns from big hit
PHILADELPHIA -- Left winger Brad Marchand returned from a jolting open-ice hit to score one goal and assist on another, leading the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 win over the backsliding Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask turned aside all 28 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and the 38th of his career.
Forwards Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak also scored even-strength goals for the Bruins, who won for the sixth time in seven games to improve to 12-8-4.
The Flyers' loss was their 10th straight (0-5-5) and it marked the sixth time this season they have been shut out. The longest they have ever gone without a win came in the 1998-99 season when they went 0-8-4.
Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott made 24 saves in the loss, which dropped the Flyers' record to 8-11-7 and turned up the heat on third-year coach Dave Hakstol.
The Bruins opened the scoring with 5:30 remaining in the opening period when Spooner scored his first goal since March 4 of last season, a span stretching 22 games. He caught a breakaway pass from Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, used a burst of speed to get a step on Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald and beat Elliott between the pads.
Marchand left the game with 4:24 remaining in the first period when he took a high check from Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov in the neutral zone. Provorov was called for an illegal check to the head, and Marchand went to the Bruins' dressing room for evaluation.
Marchand missed six games with an upper body injury before returning to the lineup on Wednesday. He returned for the second period and promptly set up Pastrnak's goal at the 6:38 mark, winning the puck in the faceoff circle and shuffling a pass to Pastrnak, who beat Elliott inside the left post for his team-high 13th goal.
Marchand extended Boston's lead to 3-0 midway through the period when he knocked down a pass from McAvoy and beat Elliott for his ninth goal in 16 games this season.
NOTES: Bruins C David Krejci (back) and RW Anders Bjork (upper body injury) returned to the lineup. ... The Bruins' fathers made the trip to Philadelphia and watched the game from a balcony suite. They'll accompany their sons to Nashville, where the Bruins will face the Predators on Monday. ... The Flyers recalled D Mark Alt from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He will join the team on their three-game road trip that begins Monday night in Calgary. They continue with stops in Edmonton and Vancouver.