Going into this afternoon's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bruins were hoping to end their recent 2 game losing skid, and were successful, coming away with a 4-3 overtime win.  An accomplishment, as Boston lost a 3-1 lead in the 3rd period, and a barrage of shots in the final minute of the third period, all that set up Aaron Wards overtime winner.

PJ Axelson was a scratch due to a bruised foot, forcing the Bruins to make changes to all 4 lines.  Alex Auld got the start in goal for Boston, while the Flyers went with Antero Niittymaki.

The first period started off looking like it was going to be a parade to the penalty box with 5 minor penalties being called in the first 7 minutes of the game.  Flyers Jeff Carter opened the scoring on the power play at 11:31 of the first period when the puck bounced off the boards and Carter made no mistake putting it past Alex Auld on the short side.  Randy Jones and Brayden Coburn assisted on the play.  The first period ended in a 1-0 Flyers lead with a total of 7 minor penalties called. Shots were 8 a piece, with the Flyers going 1-3 on the PP, and the bruins 0-1.

The Bruins came out for the second period with a spark in their play.  Marc Savard tied the game at the 4:02 mark with a gorgeous slapshot over the glove hand of Niittymaki on the PP to tie the game at 1.  Marco Sturm and Zdeno Chara assisted on the play.  The physical play continued, with a total of 6 minor penalties called.  At the 18:38 mark of the second period, Marco Sturm gave Boston the lead on a nice spinorama at the side of the net, with Zdneo Chara picking up his second assist of the game.  The period ended with a 2-1 Boston lead.

The third period action started fast with Boston scoring on a Peter Schaefer deflection off a point shot of Chara.  Boston leads 3-1.  A huge save by Alex Auld on a clear cut breakaway by Scott Hartnell kept Boston ahead, but started a streak of momentum for the Flyers.  Hartnell redeemed himself at 10:41 banging home a loose puck after a great chance by Jeff Carter, bringing the Flyers within 1.  Just 2:04 after the Hartnell goal, Marco Sturm was robbed by the post, with Niittymaki and Savard getting tied up in the crease.  The Flyers brought the puck back and Daniel Briere potted the tying goal.  After a lot of Philadelphia pressure, especially during the last minute of the game, Boston managed to force the game to overtime with all the momentum seeming to belong to Philadelphia.

The overtime period started, and whatever the Bruins coaches said to them appeared to have worked. Just 43 seconds into overtime, Aaron Ward got the winner for Boston, and you could almost instantly see the relief on the faces of the Bruins faces.  Marc Savard tried to feed a breakaway pass to Sturm but Niittymaki got to it first, his clearing attempt went right to Ward who made no mistake on a slapshot to the back of the net.  Auld finished the game with 21 saves, and Zdneo Chara with 3 assists was named the games 3rd star.

Bruins rookie Milan Lucic played a great game.  He was a strong physical force in the first period throwing his weight around all over the ice.  Late in the period, Lucic had a great hit on Flyers Captain Jason Smith, unfortunately at the end of the hit, Lucic hit the dasher (top edge of the boards at the bottom of the glass) cutting his face, also risking further injury.  Lucic returned to the game midway through the second period sporting stitches on the left side of his nose.  He remained a physical force after his return laying another hit on Smith, then going across the ice to hit Jeff Carter.  Lucic finished the game despite reopening the cut.

It was a good game to watch, with hard played, fast, hard hitting action.  There were a total of 16 minor penalties called, and the shots finishing 32-24 in Boston's favor.  This was a great game to win for Boston, who is right in the battle to stay in the Playoff race, and hopefully the Bruins can use this win to gain momentum for their upcoming games, including a division matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs on 01/17 after 4 days off.