Flyers fall to Bruins; lead is just two points over Penguins and Capitals

The Flyers' hold on first place in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division got a little more tenuous on Sunday night at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center.

They dropped a 2-1 decision to their old playoff pals, the Boston Bruins, and their lead in the Atlantic Division was trimmed to two points by Pittsburgh, which edged Florida in a shootout earlier in the day.

The Flyers, who lost on a late power-play goal by rookie center Brad Marchand, play in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

"The first period, we felt pretty good. We had some passion and some energy," said defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who had a game-high six hits. "After that, it just disappeared for some reason. They did everything better than us."

The Flyers, who had a nine-game points streak (5-0-4) snapped, are also just two points ahead of Washington in the Eastern Conference. They have a game in hand on both the Capitals and Penguins.

Just 44 seconds after Mike Richards went to the penalty box for high-sticking Tomas Kaberle, Marchand scored on a rebound with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left to snap a 1-1 tie. Both of the Bruins' goals were scored on rebounds shortly after the Flyers went to the penalty box.

A partially screened Brian Boucher stopped a point drive by former Flyer Dennis Seidenberg, but Marchand pounced on the rebound and deposited his 20th goal. Mark Recchi, another former Flyer, also notched an assist.

"I got my glove on it, and the rebound went up to him and hit him on his chest and landed right on his stick on the forehand," Boucher said. "It was a gift."

The Flyers picked up just two out of a possible six points in three games this week against conference contenders Washington, Pittsburgh, and Boston.

 Richards was annoyed when a reporter began to ask about the Flyers' carelessness with the puck - "same old question," he whispered at one point - but coach Peter Laviolette said it was a major reason for the loss. The Flyers couldn't get in sync because of a season-high 20 giveaways, including four by Claude Giroux. Boston had just seven giveaways.

Laviolette added that the Flyers attack has been too stagnant recently.

"Our offensive zone time is the staple of our identity," he said. "A lot of movement, a lot of opportunities at the net. . . . Our opportunities have been low for a while now, except for the Washington game."

It's difficult to watch a Flyers-Bruins game and not think back to last year's stunning conference semifinals. The Flyers became the third team in NHL history to overcome a three-games-to-none series deficit.

But the Bruins went 3-0-1 against the Flyers this season, extracting a tiny bit of revenge.

The Flyers struck first as Kris Versteeg became the sixth player on the team to reach 20 goals, though 14 of his tallies were with Toronto.

Richards took a pass from James van Riemsdyk - who hustled to get to the puck and keep it in the zone - and wound up to take a slap shot. Instead, Richards deftly fed Versteeg to the left of the net, and the winger one-timed it past an out-of-position Tim Thomas with 15:15 left in the first period.

With 12:20 remaining in the second period, however, Boston's Nathan Horton scored the equalizer four seconds after Blair Betts went to the penalty box for tripping.

"We only have seven games left," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "You can't go into the playoffs playing up-and-down hockey."