I believe that Jaroslav Halak (33 saves) deserves All-Star consideration this season and although the highlights from this back-and-forth affair probably won't help his cause, keep in mind that he did way more than Smith (21 saves) and actually made some big stops despite allowing four goals. David Pastrnak (goal, assist) rightfully earned his first All-Star bid and Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) is a nominee for the NHL's first-time "Last Man In" initiative. Why isn't Brad Marchand (2 goals) an All-Star? I'll hang up and listen. Former BC star Johnny Gaudreau (goal, assist) showed why he's considered one of the most dangerous forwards in the world while his fellow Eagle Noah Hanifin added two assists.
Boston improved to 14-5-0 at the Garden this season but they didn't make it easy on themselves as they allowed a shorthanded goal to Michael Frolik early in the first period. After Halak made multiple saves on PC's Mark Jankowski, Frolik flipped in a backhander for his ninth goal of the season at 7:46. The battle of the special teams (somewhere Bill Belichick drools) was on as John Moore tied it at 9:02 with a power-play goal. The BU brothers-Matt Grzelcyk and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson-each had an assist on Moore's second goal as a Bruin. Boston took a 2-1 lead at 14:19 of the first as Jake DeBrusk tipped in a shot from David Krejci. Ryan Donato had the second assist on DeBrusk's 12th goal of the season. For such a young guy that's not particularly imposing in size, he has already shown that he's great at getting deflections in front of the net.
Calgary appeared to have the refs on their side as Elias "Sports Bureau" Lindholm got credited for a goal after it looked like Halak had covered it up at 1:05 in the second period. Instead, it was called a goal on the ice and withstood a challenge by Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. Gaudreau and Hanifin had the assists on Lindholm's 20th goal of the season (how much does he love playing with Johnny Hockey and Sean Monahan?). Once again, the Flames' invisible defense let the Bruins answer back right away as Marchand tipped in Torey Krug's shot from the point just 36 seconds later. Bergeron had the second assist on Marchand's 14th goal of the season.
If you thought the final score would be 3-2, you were delusional. The Black and Gold were just getting warmed up as they bagged three more goals and the Flames added two of their own. Pasta scored a power-play goal off a beautiful set play with Krug: Torey slammed the puck off the end boards behind Calgary's goal and it took a hometown bounce right to David who weaved around Smith and scooped in a backhander for his team-leading 25th goal of the season-halfway to 50! Halak notched the other assist (his 3rd of the season!) which is notable since it's only one behind the franchise mark set by Eddie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers in the mid-70s. Gaudreau had many better chances but it figured that his tally came on a no-angle shot that he banked in off Halak's leg pad at 9:27. Johnny's team-leading 23rd goal of the season was assisted by Monahan and Hanifin which sounds like a douchey law firm in Southie. DeBrusk's backhander at 13:46 made it 5-3 with another assist credited to proud papa David Krejci (his wife gave birth to another child this morning). Mikael Backlund's backhander rounded out the scoring for Calgary at 16:27, his ninth goal of the season was assisted by captain Mark Giordano and Rasmus Andersson. Marchand bolstered his All-Star replacement resume with an empty-netter at 18:10, assisted by his linemates Pastrnak and Bergeron.
This was a great way to kick off Boston's four-game homestand as Buffalo (22-13-6) comes here on Saturday night (7, NESN). That is a huge matchup since the Bruins and Sabres are tied with 50 points apiece (Boston has more regulation plus overtime wins so they're in 3rd place while Buffalo is the top Wild Card) exactly halfway through the season. For you non-mathematicians, that means that the Bruins are on another 100-point pace for what it's worth. The B's are 2-1 against Buffalo this season and surprisingly, that will already close out their regular season series. Don't be surprised if they meet in the postseason either. After that, Minnesota (19-17-3) is here on Tuesday (7, NESN) and Washington (24-12-3) wraps things up on Thursday (7, NESN). Tuukka Rask (10-8-2) has won his last two starts-including in Buffalo last weekend-so I would expect him to get the nod again vs. their Atlantic Division foe. Also of note, David Backes' three-game suspension is officially over now so he'll be back in the lineup with I'm guessing either JFK or Colby Cave coming out.
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