The Flyers returned to meaningful hockey with a dominant 4-1 victory of the Boston Bruins to open their round robin seeding tournament. Despite the long layoff, the hottest team in hockey didn’t seem to miss a beat. Carter Hart in his first playoff start became the youngest Flyers goalie every to win a playoff game while stopping 34 Bruin shots and only allowing one fluky goal on a failed wraparound attempt that bounced into the net off Robert Hagg’s skate. The defense was incredible in front of the young netminder and kept his crease clear for most of the afternoon while also managing to spring the forwards through for a couple of the Flyers’ goals. Between his tremendous performance and the flow on top of his head Ivan Provorov stood out on the ice as much as anyone. The Bruins were the top team in the NHL when the season was put on a hold and while these games in the round robin don’t exactly have playoff intensity, stifling a line consisting of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak is no easy feat. The Flyers just look like a team that has legitimate cup-run potential. Alain Vigneault has his team completely bought in and running a deep enough roster to wear opponents down and, if they can withstand the occasional consecutive shifts of pressure, pounce on their opponents mistakes often enough to win hockey games consistently. That depth may be put to the test soon since Michael Raffl left the game with a leg injury on a hit that AV contended may have been a bit dirty. Joel Farabee projects to slide right into his spot and he certainly has the talent to compete at a high level and keep the Flyers on track in Raffl’s absence. The biggest takeaway from the game likely is Carter Hart’s rock-solid performance in net. The soon to be 22-year-old was locked in and looked like a seasoned veteran for all 60 minutes, including the last three which saw the Bruins pepper him on a 6-5 man advantage. With about ten seconds remaining in the well-decided game, the NBC broadcast caught Brad Marchand shaking his head in frustration at his team’s inability to get the puck past the young Flyers tender. After the absolutely disgraceful showing from the Sixers on Saturday night, this city needed the Flyers to pick up where they left off and give the fans something to be excited about. The boys in orange and black delivered just that and solidified their status as contenders for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Check out my sponsor! Orbit Energy & Power: www.orbitenergy.us or Call (800) 836-3987 CALL OR TEXT THE 24/7 ANY TIME HOTLINE: (856) 442-9805 Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/sportstalkwithbrodes SeatGeek Promo Code: BRODES This will save you $20 on your total purchase! Podcasts: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sports-talk-with-brodes/id1268899988 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yKG2JJe3bpoLiCL75d7Lt?si=5WrRXMiPRHKBvGSoTZVMVQ Google Podcast: https://play.google.com/music/m/I4ilhe3iu5enusddeqzboud3bcu?t=Sports_Talk_With_Brodes Anchor: https://anchor.fm/sportstalkwithbrodes GET A SHIRT! : https://www.teespring.com/brodesclothes Email: sportsandbrodes@gmail.com Twitter & Instagram: Brodes81