That was a preseason game?
The down-to-the-wire drama made Friday night feel like a high-end regular-season game between the Flyers and Bruins. It ended with the Flyers pulling out a 4-3 shootout win at TD Garden in Boston.
The Flyers went 2 for 2 in the skills competition. Bobby Brink capped off his excellent night by going top shelf on a backhanded shot before Morgan Frost sealed the victory.
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Cal Petersen rebounded from his shaky preseason opener with a big-time statement in net.
Brink, Joel Farabee and Ryan Poehling scored goals for the Flyers, who improved to 1-2-0 in the preseason. They had been outscored 8-1 in their first two exhibition games.
The Flyers have three preseason contests left, all at home.
Assistant coaches Rocky Thompson, Brad Shaw and Darryl Williams were behind the club's bench. Head coach John Tortorella continued his evaluation from the visiting management suite.
NHL
• Tortorella was eager to see how Petersen would respond mentally from Monday night's performance. In the Flyers' 6-0 loss to the Devils, Petersen surrendered four goals over the opening 5:50 minutes of the game and five goals total through two periods of work.
On Friday night, Petersen showed his new coach plenty of resolve. He entered about midway through the game and allowed only goal, a shot from the slot that squeaked by him. He finished with 16 saves.
Right off the hop, Petersen had to turn away a Bruins power play in the second period.
With under three minutes to go in the third period of a 3-3 game, he made a sprawling save.
He then denied a Charlie McAvoy blast from in close with three seconds left to force overtime.
Petersen stopped three shots in OT and denied both of Boston's shootout attempts.
The former Kings netminder came to the Flyers during June in the Ivan Provorov trade. He made up serious ground Friday night in the competition to be Carter Hart's backup.
Samuel Ersson, who is battling with Petersen and Felix Sandstrom for the No. 2 job, didn't hurt his chances, either. David Pastrnak beat him twice — first on the power play and then on a breakaway. No real shame in that.
Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark, last season's Vezina Trophy winner, denied 33 of the Flyers' 36 shots.
• Being only 22 years old and coming off an abbreviated 2022-23 AHL season, Brink entered camp with steeper odds to make the Flyers' roster. He definitely put himself in the conversation Friday night.
Tortorella has talked about the importance of basing decisions on merit. Well, Brink earned himself a longer look. He has really good hands and vision.
The 2019 second-round pick showed great patience before finding Poehling on the doorstep for a first-period power play goal. He knotted the game at 3-3 in the third period when he streaked through the slot and fired one past Ullmark. Camp invite Jacob Gaucher was persistent in setting up Brink for the shot.
Brink also scored a pair of goals in the scrimmage portion of camp.
Tyson Foerster, a guy Brink would likely have to beat out if he were to grab a job, had a solid night. The top prospect didn't stand out but he picked up an assist and was fine in his two-way responsibility.
Defenseman Egor Zamula played his first preseason game and was pretty good in 23:32 minutes. He appears more confident and comfortable.
• Farabee looked like he was shot out of a cannon when he jumped on a turnover and laced home a shot for the game-opening goal. But he also had a bad turnover of his own on Pastrnak's second tally.
Poehling's marker was his second of the preseason.
• An hour before puck drop, the Flyers trimmed their training camp roster by seven.
They sent prospects Alexis Gendron, Zayde Wisdom, Mason Millman, Ethan Samson and Will Zmolek to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, which opens training camp Sunday.
Adam Karashik and Nolan Maier also headed to the Phantoms after being released from their professional tryouts.
• The Flyers are right back at it Saturday when they welcome the Devils for their fourth preseason game (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).
The team will hold a skate at 10 a.m. ET in Voorhees, New Jersey, while the non-game group is scheduled to practice at 10 a.m. ET on the adjacent rink.
Before the game, the club could make another round of cuts. The roster currently has 44 players.
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