Bruins Bury Flyers 5-1, Expose Thin Philadelphia Blue Line

So much for tight, low-margin hockey. Boston rolled into TD Garden and put up five goals on Carson Bjarnason, turning our Flyers +1.5 call into confetti by the second intermission. The Bruins led 3-0 after two periods and tacked on two more in the third while Philadelphia managed a single consolation tally. Luke Cavallin, the Boston netminder we flagged as an unknown, stopped everything that mattered and looked like a seasoned veteran doing it.

Our reasoning leaned on Philadelphia's 2.92 goals-per-game profile and Boston's supposed inability to blow teams out without Charlie McAvoy. Turns out the Flyers' defensive structure — or lack thereof — was the real liability. Boston's depth forwards feasted on turnovers, and the power play cashed in at least once. Meanwhile, Bjarnason had no answer for the Bruins' cycle game, and the Flyers' offense generated nothing until garbage time.

The -1.5 favorite-cover rate sits around 45 percent league-wide for a reason, but this was the 45 percent. Boston's home crowd got a laugher, DarkHorse took an L, and Philadelphia's road woes continue. Sometimes the unknown goalie plays lights-out — just not for the team you backed.