Viktor Arvidsson and the Boston Bruins returned from the Olympic break in rousing fashion.
The Bruins will look to build on that performance on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers.
Playing its first game since Feb. 4, Boston posted a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Arvidsson scored twice and Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves to help snap the Blue Jackets’ seven-game winning streak.
“This was a big game,” Korpisalo said after the Bruins improved to 5-0-3 in their last eight outings.
Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who helped the United States capture the gold at the Olympics, could be in line to start Saturday. Boston coach Marco Sturm wanted to give Swayman a bit of extra rest in favor of Korpisalo, who helped Finland win the bronze medal in Milan.
“‘Korpy’ was unbelievable today,” Sturm said. “Glad he came back right away from the Olympics and didn’t waste any time. … He was great.”
Morgan Geekie and Sean Kuraly each scored a goal against Columbus as Boston continued to move up the Atlantic Division standings. The Bruins are 11-1-3 in their last 15 games.
“It’s huge,” Geekie said of the win. “It seems like everyone in our division wins every time they play, so to get these points is huge, especially to come out of the gate and get two points right away. It’s something to build off, but we know we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
Philadelphia has played twice since the Olympic break, dropping a 3-1 decision against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday before posting a 3-2 overtime victory over the New York Rangers the following night. On Thursday, the Flyers fell behind 2-0 before rallying behind two goals from Matvei Michkov, including the game-winner in overtime.
“He had two big goals for us,” Philadelphia winger Travis Konecny said of Michkov. “Obviously the overtime one, but I thought the first one was a timely one. It kind of helped us calm down and get us back into it. He’s playing great. He looked fast. He looked confident with the puck.”
Trevor Zegras also scored for the Flyers, while Samuel Ersson made 23 saves in his first start since Jan. 29. He gave up two early goals before Philadelphia rallied to win for just the second time in its last eight contests (2-4-2).
“He made so many ridiculous saves that (the early goals he allowed) didn’t even matter,” Zegras said.
For the Flyers, it was their league-leading 16th come-from-behind victory this season.
“We’ve done it all year where we’ve had some slow starts, give up the first goal and just keep battling back,” Konecny said.
Due to the Olympic break, several players in Saturday’s contest are looking to break lengthy goal droughts. Konecny hasn’t scored since Jan. 31, while Owen Tippett last tallied on Feb. 3. For Boston, David Pastrnak is looking to find the back of the net for the first time since Jan. 27.
This is the second of three meetings between Philadelphia and Boston this season. The Bruins topped the Flyers 6-3 on Jan. 29 as Fraser Minten and Casey Mittelstadt each recorded a goal and two assists.
