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Minten Sparks Bruins’ Offense in 5-1 Win; Swayman Ties Moog
Fraser Minten had a goal and two assists as Boston beat Philadelphia 5-1 at TD Garden, improving to 4-2 while the Flyers remain the Eastern Conference’s only winless team.
BOSTON — Fraser Minten created havoc for the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, finishing with a goal and two assists as the Boston Bruins built a multi-goal lead and cruised to a 5-1 victory Saturday at TD Garden. Pavel Zacha scored his first goal of the season and Mason Lohrei, Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt also found the net as Boston won its second straight game and moved to 4-2 on the young season.
The scoring began 12:21 into the opening period when Zacha redirected a backhand feed from David Pastrnak and ripped a wrister that caromed in off Dan Vladar’s right pad. Lohrei extended the lead with a wrister over Vladar’s shoulder with 2:48 left in the second, and less than two minutes into the third Marat Khusnutdinov finished a neat feed from Minten to punctuate Boston’s control.
Jeremy Swayman, making his fifth start in six games, faced just three shots in the first 30 minutes and finished with 14 saves as Boston’s defense limited opportunities. His bid for a second shutout of the season was spoiled when Porter Martone converted a Philadelphia power play 6:32 into the final period, but Swayman collected the 136th win of his career, tying Andy Moog for eighth on the franchise’s all-time list. Vladar stopped 27 shots for the Flyers.
The game carried added storyline notes: Charlie McAvoy served the final game of a six-game suspension to open the season, and recently signed winger Michael Bunting played only his second game with Philadelphia. The Flyers, now 0-4-2, return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night; the Bruins head west to begin a four-game road trip in San Jose on Tuesday.