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Flyers, Bruins clash for first time since historic comeback

Dec 1, 2010 - 3:59 PM (Sports Network) - The last time the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins met, the former club was putting the finishing touches on an historical playoff comeback.

The teams will finally meet again tonight when the Flyers host their Eastern Conference rivals at the Wells Fargo Center.

Philly and Boston met in the second round of last spring's playoffs and the Bruins jumped out to a three-games-to-none lead in the series only to watch the Flyers rattle off four straight victories to take the best-of-seven set.

As a result, the Flyers became just the third team in NHL history and the first since the 1975 New York Islanders to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

The final game of last year's East semis was especially memorable, as the Flyers fell behind 3-0 in Game 7 at Boston only to rally for a 4-3 victory in the decisive game. Philadelphia would then go on to win the Eastern Conference title before losing in six games to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Bruins have won seven of the last 11 regular-season meetings with the Flyers and Boston has also claimed seven out of nine in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia enters tonight with 34 points on the year and is tied with Pittsburgh for the Atlantic Division lead. Boston is currently second in the Northeast with 26 points.

Both the Flyers and Bruins will be trying to avoid three-game losing streaks tonight. Philadelphia was dealt a pair of shootout losses this past weekend, losing to visiting Calgary on Friday before dropping a road test against New Jersey the following day.

Travis Zajac scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout to lift the Devils to a 2-1 victory over the Flyers.

Danny Briere netted a third-period power-play goal for the Flyers, while Brian Boucher was the hard-luck loser with 24 saves.

"We definitely got better as the game went on," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "We fought for a point in the third period. [Devils goaltender Johan] Hedberg was pretty good, but our guy was too."

The Bruins, meanwhile, have lost four of their last five games, posting a 1-3-1 record over that span. Boston's two most recent losses have come in regulation, including Sunday's 4-1 setback in Atlanta. Dustin Byfuglien posted a goal and three assists and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 40 Boston shots to lead the Thrashers to victory.

Blake Wheeler posted the lone goal for the Bruins and Tuukka Rask was shelled for all four goals on 26 shots.

On Monday, Boston traded defenseman Matt Hunwick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for rookie blueliner Colby Cohen. Hunwick, 25, had a goal and two assists in 22 games for the Bruins this season. In 164 career games -- all with Boston -- Hunwick collected 13 goals and 45 points.

The trade could be a sign that Bruins centerman Marc Savard is nearing his return to the lineup. Boston GM Peter Chiarelli admitted in a conference call on Monday night that the Hunwick trade was made to help the Bruins create cap space for Savard when the time comes for him to return from post-concussion syndrome.

"This will be enough to activate Marc Savard when he's ready to play," said Chiarelli. "We monitored how he practiced today and we'll see where his conditioning is and we'll make a determination [as to his return date] at some point, but nothing definitive at this time."

Savard, who hasn't played in a contest since Game 7 against the Flyers last year, is not expected to make his return tonight, but he is considered day-to- day.

In other injury news for the Bruins, forwards David Krejci and Jordan Caron are both questionable for tonight with flu-like symptoms.

Boston is 8-3-0 as the road team this year, while the Flyers are sporting a 9-4-1 home record.