For the second time in preseason action, the Flyers went to a shootout.
And for the second time, they won it.
The Flyers picked up a 3-2 victory Monday night over the Bruins at TD Garden in Boston.
Bobby Brink was the lone scorer in the skills competition. Dan Vladar denied all three of the Bruins’ attempts.
The shootout wasn’t nearly as long as the Flyers’ first one, which was eight days ago and went 11 rounds against the Islanders. Rick Tocchet’s club finished with a 3-2 victory in that one, as well.
On Monday night, Noah Cates broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the second period. After Boston responded a little over three minutes later, Rodrigo Abols struck with 24 seconds left in the middle stanza.
The Bruins tied things up again with 8:39 minutes left in the third period to force overtime.
The Flyers didn’t dress four of their top five scorers from last season and four of their top defensemen.
Tocchet’s club improved to 2-3-0 in the preseason with two games to go.
• Not sure how you can keep Abols off the Flyers’ season-opening roster.
He’s the team’s only skater to have played in all five preseason games so far. And he has more than answered the challenge.
His goal was his second of the preseason and third point. It came on a beautiful shot.
Tocchet and the Flyers have liked Abols’ positional versatility. The 29-year-old can play center or winger and he moves very well for a 6-foot-4 guy.
If merit matters in camp, Abols has earned a spot. He can help the Flyers in their bottom six right now.
• Tyson Foerster made his preseason debut after recovering from offseason surgery to address an infection in the area of his elbow.
“I think he worked extremely hard on his rehab, give him a lot of credit,” Tocchet said Monday morning. “Doesn’t surprise me, he’s a character kid.”
The 23-year-old winger picked up an assist on Cates’ goal and played just under 21 minutes. It would be surprising if the line of Foerster, Cates and Brink isn’t together on opening night.
Noah Cates scored the first goal of the game for the Flyers in the second period against the Bruins.
• Vladar has been a real positive through his four periods of preseason action.
The free-agent addition played the full game Monday night and converted 13 saves on 15 shots. He has stopped 21 of 24 shots in exhibition play.
The 6-foot-5 netminder has the ability to make an athletic save and has done a nice job tracking pucks through traffic.
So far, so good from Vladar.
• The Flyers’ entire defensive group Monday night featured players on the bubble.
Adam Ginning didn’t hurt his push for a job by recording four blocked shots and a plus-1 mark in 22:58 minutes. His size and defensive-minded game could be welcomed by the Flyers with Rasmus Ristolainen out to start the season.
It’s possible Egor Zamula didn’t help himself. On Boston’s game-tying 1-1 goal, it looked like Zamula was unable to pick up the stick of Sean Kuraly, who tipped one home in front.
During another part of the second period, Zamula was a bit too methodical in the slot of the Flyers’ defensive zone. As he tried to clear the puck, he was stripped and it led to a scoring chance.
• Helge Grans was placed on waivers Monday, according to PuckPedia.com. If the 23-year-old defenseman clears, he’s expected to report to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
• The Flyers have a couple of days before they’re back into preseason action Thursday when they host the Islanders (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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