Fortunately for the Boston Bruins, the preseason does not count.
The Bruins suffered their first loss of the 2026-27 preseason at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Bruins sent a roster with a majority of bubble/AHL players, while the Flyers countered with an NHL-heavy lineup. Joseph Woll, who the Flyers traded for this summer, posted a 28-save shutout.
Michael DiPietro played the full game for the black and gold and finished with 26 saves on 28 shots. He also finished with two penalty minutes after high-sticking Travis Konecny in the first period.
Philadelphia’s wonderchild, Matvei Michkov, opened the scoring Thursday. Helge Grans steered a point shot towards DiPietro, but Porter Martone connected with the puck on its way through and kicked it across the crease to an open Michkov. The 21-year-old Russian backhanded it past DiPietro to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at the 4:02 mark.
DiPietro remained busy during the first period. He faced 15 shots and stopped all but one, but the Flyers carried a 1-0 lead to the locker room. After 20 minutes, the Bruins only had five shots on goal, and none came on their early power play.
The Bruins got another power play halfway through the second period due to Trevor Zegras’ sweater being tucked in. The NHL has a rule against improperly tucking in a jersey, but this year, the referees are cracking down on it. Zegras was warned, and right after a defensive-zone faceoff in the second period, referee Jon McIsaac was quick to make the call.
Does it impact the game? I’m not entirely sure. Anyway.
The Bruins got a 38-second look at 5-on-3 when Jett Luchanko hooked Frederic Brunet, but the Bruins could not capitalize on either power play. They fired four shots during the long man-advantage, including two from James Hagens, but could not beat Joseph Woll.
Brunet picked up his first two penalty minutes of the preseason after holding Sean Couturier’s stick. The Flyers did not get a shot off, but shortly after, they put Michael DiPietro to the test.
After being outshot 15-5 in the first period, the Bruins outshot Philadelphia 14-7 in the second, yet the score remained 1-0.
Cole Knuble, son of former Bruin Mike Knuble, knocked in a loose puck in front of the net to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead at the 2:57 mark in the third. Jett Luchanko drove to the front of the net, and Jacob Gaucher, with DiPietro facing him, poked the puck through to Knuble, who tapped it in.
Looking to spark something, Brian Halonen dropped the gloves for a bout with Flyers defenseman Simon Benoit. Both guys connected, but the 6-foot-4 Flyers defenseman got the takedown. The fight did not generate anything for the black and gold, though.
Matvei Michkov came oh so close to his second goal of the night, but found the post instead of the wide-open net. Flyers captain Sean Couturier set up Michkov, but Frederic Brunet disrupted the play.
Marco Sturm pulled DiPietro with just over two minutes to go. Joseph Woll got his glove hand underneath him to keep Riley Duran’s chance out of the crease. James Hagens recorded the Bruins’ 28th shot of the night, but Woll held his ground and completed the shutout.
The Bruins travel back to Boston on Thursday night and will fly out to Washington on Friday afternoon. They will complete the 2026-27 preseason with a game against the Washington Capitals at 7:00 PM.
Then the games start to count.
Bruins Lines
Ivan Ivan – Sean Kuraly – Riley Duran
James Hagens – Dans Locmelis – Lukas Reichel
Alex Steeves – Brendan Gaunce – Brian Halonen
Attilio Biasca – Jake Schmaltz – Mikey Eyssimont
Frederic Brunet – Charlie McAvoy
Jordan Harris – Henri Jokiharju
Jonathan Aspirot – Billy Sweezey
Michael DiPietro
Jiri Patera