VLADAR STYMIES BRUINS AS FLYERS END EIGHT-GAME POINT STREAK, 3-1

Dan Vladar Makes 26 Saves, Including 16 in Second Period, as Philadelphia Moves Within Six Points of Boston

Boston Bruins 1, Philadelphia Flyers 3
February 28, 2026 | Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Dan Vladar made 26 saves, including 16 in a dominating second period performance, as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena, ending Boston’s eight-game point streak.

Travis Konecny opened the scoring early in the third period with his team-leading 23rd goal of the season, then set up Jamie Drysdale for a wrist shot that made it 2-0. The Flyers (27-21-11) won back-to-back games for the first time since January 3-6, moving to within six points of Boston for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Charlie McAvoy scored for Boston (33-21-5), which had been 5-0-3 in its previous eight games. Jeremy Swayman, making his first start since helping the United States win gold at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, made just 14 saves as the Bruins dropped their fifth straight road game (0-2-3).

HOW IT HAPPENED

First period:

No goals scored
Heavyweight bout between Tanner Jeannot and Nic Deslauriers highlighted scoreless opening frame

Second period:

No goals scored
Dan Vladar stopped all 16 shots he faced, including seven during two Bruins power plays
Vladar made his two best saves against Morgan Geekie – got right pad on Geekie shot from slot with 15:00 left, then snapped pads closed to stop Geekie on rebound from bottom of left face-off circle during Boston man-advantage with 4:17 remaining
Vladar stopped Sean Kuraly on breakaway with 5:43 left in period
Crowd gave Vladar an ovation during the second period
Vladar: “We are a confident group. We knew we have it in us. We had it at beginning of year, and it kind of slipped away. But we’ve just got to get back the swagger because we have it here.”

Third period:

Boston appeared to score at 1:05 when Hampus Lindholm’s shot from right point got through Vladar, but referees immediately waved goal off for goaltender interference on Mikey Eyssimont
Travis Konecny gave Flyers 1-0 lead at 3:41 – Christian Dvorak dumped puck in from left boards, it took awkward bounce into middle, Swayman reached out to redirect but Dvorak got to it first and backhanded it into crease where Konecny tapped it in
Jamie Drysdale pushed lead to 2-0 by scoring from left hash marks at 11:55 from Konecny and Christian Dvorak – wrister beat Swayman for his third goal in five games
Charlie McAvoy cut it to 2-1 at 13:03 with deflection from Hampus Lindholm and Pavel Zacha, extending his personal point streak to nine games
Sean Couturier sealed it with empty-netter at 19:07 from Noah Cates, snapping 31-game goal drought

GOALTENDING

Dan Vladar earned the win with 26 saves on 27 shots (.963 SV%) for Philadelphia. Sixteen of his saves came in the second period.

Jeremy Swayman took the loss, stopping 14 of 16 shots (.875 SV%) for Boston in his first game since winning Olympic gold.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Philadelphia: 0-for-2 PP | Boston: 0-for-3 PP

Penalties: PHI 11 min (4 infractions), BOS 9 min (3 infractions)

Flyers went 3-for-3 on penalty kill and are 15-for-15 in their past eight games.

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

No Scoring

Second Period

No Scoring

Third Period

3:41 PHI – Travis Konecny (23) – Assists: Christian Dvorak (23), Jamie Drysdale (19)
11:55 PHI – Jamie Drysdale (6) – Assists: Travis Konecny (34), Christian Dvorak (24)
13:03 BOS – Charlie McAvoy (5) – Assists: Hampus Lindholm (16), Pavel Zacha (23)
19:07 PHI – Sean Couturier (6) (EN) – Assists: Noah Cates (18)

KEY NOTES

Dan Vladar got his 18th win, the most by a goalie in his first season with Philadelphia since Brian Elliott won 23 games in 2017-18
Vladar signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract ($3.35 million average annual value) with the Flyers on July 1
Drysdale on Vladar: “You guys saw the saves that he made throughout that game. The shots were pretty low in the first two periods, but I think pretty much every one of their shots was a Grade A. He’s been kicking great, and a big reason why we came up with one today.”
Philadelphia won back-to-back games for the first time since January 3-6
Flyers moved to within six points of Boston for final wild-card spot in Eastern Conference
Coach Rick Tocchet on adjustments: “We were better tonight. We adjusted a few things (defensively). I felt over the (Olympic) break we had to change, and I saw some of those changes tonight. A little bit in the Ranger game. We’re not perfect yet, but there’s some certain things we’re going to tweak a little bit for this team.”
Boston’s eight-game point streak ended (had been 5-0-3)
Travis Konecny scored his team-leading 23rd goal, breaking goal drought since January 31
Konecny’s goal came after awkward bounce off stanchion – Swayman: “It hit a stanchion, and then as soon as I went to swipe it, it popped over my stick”
Jamie Drysdale scored his third goal in five games from left hash marks – Tocchet: “I think the Rangers game, he had three chances in the high slot. He’s finding those spots. I know he’s working on his shot. This summer is a big summer for him. I remember coaching Quinn Hughes. He increased his shot 12 mph, which is amazing. I think ‘Drysie’ can get that shot a little bit harder, which he’s been working on.”
Charlie McAvoy joined Ray Bourque as only Bruins defensemen to have point streak of at least nine games in past 40 years – has 12 points (2G, 10A) during nine-game point streak, his longest in NHL
Sean Couturier snapped 31-game goal drought with empty-netter – captain’s first goal in 32 games – Couturier: “I’ll take them any way I can. It feels good. But most importantly, it’s the win. The wins are more important right now, and that’s all my focus.”
Hampus Lindholm had goal waved off at 1:05 of third for goaltender interference on Mikey Eyssimont – Bruins coach Marco Sturm elected not to challenge
Flyers went 3-for-3 on penalty kill, are 15-for-15 in their past eight games
Boston has lost five straight road games (0-2-3), dropping road record to 11-13-4
Morgan Geekie had nine-game point streak end – Geekie: “Just one of those nights. Their goalie played well. Couldn’t quite put it in the spot I wanted to a couple times and Dan made a couple great plays.”
Jeremy Swayman made first start since helping USA win Olympic gold at Milano Cortina 2026
Bruins coach Marco Sturm on Vladar: “[Vladar] played really good, he kind of made those saves he needed to. We just didn’t do enough of a good job being around him or being front of him.”
Heavyweight bout between Tanner Jeannot and Nic Deslauriers in first period
Second of three meetings between teams this season (Boston won 6-3 on Jan. 29)
Philadelphia is 27-21-11 with 24 games remaining