TD Garden in Boston, home of the Bruins, shown in a file photo for the Bruins Flyers game recap

Bruins Flyers Recap: Minten Has 3 Points in 5-1 Win

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TD Garden in Boston, home of the Bruins, in a file photo from the Charlestown bridge; it is not from Saturday’s game. Photo: Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Bruins Flyers matinee on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, was one-sided: Boston beat winless Philadelphia 5-1 at TD Garden, and 22-year-old center Fraser Minten had a goal and two assists. The win moved the Bruins to 4-2-0 on the young season, and it came just before a California road trip that is also expected to bring Charlie McAvoy back.

Everything below comes from NHL.com’s game recap, the Associated Press, and the Boston Globe. For our earlier coverage, see the Bruins vs. Flyers game preview and the season-opening 3-0 win over the Rangers. Schedule and roster details live on our Bruins team page and in the Boston Sports hub.

How the Bruins Beat the Flyers 5-1

Pavel Zacha scored first, at 12:21 of the first period, when a Pastrnak backhand pass set up a wrist shot that trickled over the line, per NHL.com. Mason Lohrei made it 2-0 at 17:12 of the second period, finishing a 4-on-2 rush off a feed from JJ Peterka.

Marat Khusnutdinov pushed the lead to 3-0 at 1:55 of the third, and Philadelphia’s Porter Martone cut it to 3-1 on a power play at 6:32. Casey Mittelstadt answered at 9:21 by redirecting an Elias Lindholm pass, and Minten scored his second goal of the season at 15:59 to finish the scoring. Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston; Dan Vladar made 27 for Philadelphia.

Fraser Minten Keeps Producing

Minten’s goal-and-two-assist night is the headline. NHL.com reported that he signed a seven-year, $50.4 million contract ($7.2 million average annual value) on Sept. 8 that begins next season. After the game he said, “I feel fast and feel like I can make plays and contribute, while still being good, and responsible defensively.”

Zacha praised him, too. “He’s fun to watch and he has good potential,” Zacha said. Peterka had two assists in the game and reached 200 career NHL points (94 goals, 106 assists), which NHL.com said made him the third-fastest German-born player to get there, behind Tim Stutzle and Leon Draisaitl.

Milestones and Notes

Swayman’s win tied Andy Moog for eighth on the Bruins’ all-time list with 136, according to NHL.com. Boston finished a three-game homestand 2-1-0.

The early season has been uneven but eventful. The Bruins won their opener 3-0 over the Rangers on Sept. 29 and beat Winnipeg 4-3 in overtime on Oct. 2. They went on to beat Utah 6-1 on Oct. 8, a game in which David Pastrnak scored his first two goals of the season, per NHL.com’s recap of that game. The Bruins’ two losses came in games this article doesn’t cover.

The Flyers’ Side

Philadelphia fell to 0-4-2. Martone said after the game, “We want to win. We’ve got to find a different way,” and added that “it feels like we’re getting bullied out there.” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said, “We’re at the bottom. We’re in the muck right now.”

The Flyers were without Travis Konecny (lower body) and Cam York (upper body), both listed as day to day. The team also placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve and said forward Nikita Grebenkin had back surgery and will miss at least four months, per NHL.com.

What’s Next: McAvoy and the California Trip

NHL.com reported that McAvoy completed his six-game suspension for slashing Buffalo’s Zach Benson in Game 6 of last season’s first round and is expected to make his season debut at San Jose on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Boston’s schedule then includes games at Anaheim on Oct. 16 and Los Angeles on Oct. 17, according to NESN’s schedule as cited in our preview.

His return raises a lineup question on defense. The Globe and Boston Hockey Now have both written about which defenseman could sit when he comes back; the Bruins haven’t announced the decision as of this writing, so we don’t know yet who will come out.

Sources