Flyers angle way past Bruins
Deflected Jones shot gives Philly OT win
Several minutes into Saturday's overtime session, Randy Jones flipped a floater into the Boston zone that wouldn't have cracked an eggshell. But what looked like a harmless shot gave the Flyers a 4-3 OT victory over the Bruins before 17,565 at TD Banknorth Garden.
The slow-moving puck ticked off the pad of Andrew Ference, who was standing in front of the net, took a turn in mid-air, and skidded past Manny Fernandez at 3:00 for a most unlikely and unfortunate deciding strike against the Bruins.
"Just one of those bounces when the puck goes in the net after it bounces off your leg," said Ference. "It's fun to score, but when they happen on your side, it's not so cool."
The bottom line? Tough to come up with a declarative thumb up or down. The Bruins handed away a two-goal second-period lead. But they got a point out of Saturday's decision, improving to 6-0-3 in their last nine games.
They chased a shaky Martin Biron (12 saves on 15 shots) from the crease after a three-goal first period. But they failed to tuck anything behind relief netminder Antero Niittymaki.
Fernandez, who hadn't seen action since Jan. 8 because of an aching back, made 26 saves. His best came with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation, when he stared down a two-on-one shorthanded rush and gloved a whistling wrister by Simon Gagne.
But Fernandez, who declined to comment after the game, didn't exactly see a stout defense in front of him.
"We didn't give him much help," said coach Claude Julien. "The winning goal is a bad bounce. He made the big save at the end to keep us in there. He hadn't played in over a month, so I don't think we necessarily expected him to stand on his head."
The Bruins appeared to be cruising to their 40th win after the first 20 minutes. Marc Savard tucked in his own rebound at 3:52 of the first after Biron couldn't hold the post. After Gagne tied the game with a five-on-three goal at 14:57 of the first (Dennis Wideman and Mark Stuart were in the box), Byron Bitz put the Bruins up at 18:59 when he whacked home a net-front puck for his first NHL strike.
Eight seconds later, after Patrice Bergeron won a faceoff against ex-Bruin Glen Metropolit, Shane Hnidy put the puck off the wall for Chuck Kobasew, who broke in and beat Biron at 19:07.
But after that, fatigue (physical and mental) brought the Bruins down.
Early in the second, Matt Hunwick, back in the lineup after missing three games with flu-like symptoms, gave away the puck behind the Boston net to Arron Asham, who spotted Metropolit open in front. After taking the pass from Asham, Metropolit snapped a shot past Fernandez for his second goal of the year at 2:08.
At 5:40 of the second, Kobasew was sent off for interference when he got tangled up with Claude Giroux. On the following power play, Fernandez stopped Jeff Carter, and the rebound bounced to Blake Wheeler in the slot. But Scott Hartnell stripped the puck from Wheeler and powered a shot through Fernandez at 6:25 for the tying goal.
Wheeler's turnover, combined with a hooking call at 19:56 of the second, was enough for Julien to put the rookie on ice for all but two third-period shifts. Wheeler's line: two minor penalties and one shot in 7:30 of action.
"He's going through the same stage as any first-year player will go through," Julien said. "He's going through a bit of a tough stage where he hasn't scored lately.
"I think maybe he's looking a little tired. He's not as strong on the puck as he has been. He's losing some battles, where at the beginning of the year, you saw a guy winning most of those battles and using his size and strength to his advantage.
"But this is a process that I think we expected. Right now, it's just up to him to try and work his way through it."
Wheeler wasn't the only Bruin who struggled. Julien also cut back shifts for linemate David Krejci (12:41).
"They're no different than anyone else," Julien said of Wheeler and Krejci. "I've always said that you earn your ice time. I didn't feel those guys were good enough to have the ice time they normally have."
The Bruins don't have much time to forget about Saturday's loss. On Tuesday, San Jose touches down at the Garden for a much-anticipated showdown of the league's elite.
"Coming off seven tough games in less than 12 days, your team's going to feel it at some point," said Julien, who gave his players an off day Sunday. "I think we've been feeling it the last couple of games."
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. 
