If the Bruins Go to a Shootout This Season, You Know For Certain That They Are Doomed To Lose

There are few certainties in life: death, taxes and the Bruins losing in shootouts. That might sound like a stretch but with tonight's 4-3 loss to Calgary (35-25-4) at TD Garden, Boston (31-22-10) fell to 2-7 in shootouts this season. Newly acquired David Schlemko (waived by Dallas), a seldom-used defenseman who had the least ice time of anybody on either team (7:00) had the game-winner in round eight for the Flames. Patrice Bergeron was the only Bruin to beat Karri Ramo (34 saves) in the shootout while Josh Jooris was the other guy on Calgary to put one past Tuukka Rask (29 saves).

Oddly enough, the only team in the NHL with a worse shootout record than them is the Kings (1-7). Oh and this was the seventh time in a row that the Bruins lost in a shootout, somehow all with Rask in goal. Ugh. Also this evening, the Panthers lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Stars and the Flyers beat the Blues 3-1 so Boston remains two points ahead of Florida and Philadelphia has pulled to within four points of the Bruins (with 2 games in hand). The other team to watch in this thrilling race for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference is Ottawa who is only five points back of Boston with a game in hand.

For the sixth game in a row, Boston scored the first goal of the game which obviously hasn't translated into that many wins. Brad Marchand wrapped around Calgary's goal and scored on a backhander at 7:46 of the first period. Bergeron and Dougie Hamilton assisted on Marchand's team-leading 19th goal of the season. Calgary's young star Sean Monahan tied it at 18:49. On the power play, he was able to gather a loose puck near Rask and hit the net for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell had the assists.

Milan Lucic continued to build chemistry with his new linemates Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak. Lucic banged in a one-timer from Spooner and Pastrnak at 2:30 of the second period for his 14th goal of the season which gave Boston a 2-1 lead. Calgary's next goal was all Rask's fault as he kicked a juicy rebound right to Hudler, who deposited that gift at 14:26. His 21st goal of the season was assisted by Mikael Backlund and former Bruins great Dennis Wideman.

The 2014 Hobey Baker winner-BC's Johnny Gaudreau-had a happy return to his old stomping grounds. His power play snipe at 4:59 of the third period snapped a 15-game goalless streak and more importantly, gave his team a 3-2 advantage. Russell and Wideman had the assists on the goal by one of the NHL's top rookies.

It was a tough night for Loui Eriksson, who missed a couple wonderful chances to score, but he at least made one of them count at a very important juncture. He tied it at 11:40 with a shot from in close that he nearly flubbed and Ramo got a piece of it but the puck still had enough juice to go over the line. Eriksson's 15th goal of the season was assisted by Chris Kelly and Carl Soderberg.

Boston is 7-3 in overtime this season but when they couldn't score (outshooting Calgary 3-1) in the extra session, you knew that they were screwed since Calgary was 3-1 in shootouts. The only solace for them is that if they can reach the postseason, they won't have to face the dreaded shootout.

Things don't get any easier for the B's since this kicked off three games in four days: the Flyers (28-25-12) come to the Garden on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) followed by the Red Wings (36-15-11) on Sunday afternoon (12:30, NBC). Boston has owned Philadelphia the last few years but this is also the same team that lost to Calgary in overtime and a shootout this year so anything can happen. Detroit is having a real good season that nobody has seemed to notice so the Bruins will have their hands full there. Haha is there any chance to Niklas Svedberg starts either game? I would say no.

UPDATE 3/6: The B's only had practice today but they made news as Reilly Smith got a two-year extension worth $6.85 million and Torey Krug got a one-year extension worth $3.4 million. As always, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli felt the need to lock up his "core guys" sooner than most others would ever think to do it. Krug makes sense but two years for Smith, really?

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Bruins Celebrate Jarome Iginla Night by Stealing 2 points In Calgary

The Bruins (21-8-2) were lifeless for the first two periods tonight at Scotiabank Saddledome, trailing the Flames (11-15-4) 1-0 and getting outshot 22-9. Much like the Patriots in recent second halves, the B's came alive in the third period and scored a pair of goals to escape with a 2-1 win over hapless Calgary. It was Boston's third win in a row to remain in first-place in the Atlantic Division after Montreal got steamrolled by Los Angeles, 6-0.

It had to be a very emotional night for one Jarome Iginla since the Flames honored him extensively in the pre-game and named him the third star of the game so he was able to skate a sort of victory lap in the place he called home for parts of 16 seasons. I'm cynical and critical about almost anything but I have to say that Calgary did an excellent job of putting together the whole ceremony. The storybook ending of course would have entailed Iginla scoring a goal (probably the game-winner) but the closest he came was a shot that went off the crossbar then an empty-netter attempt that was blocked.

Jiri Hudler gave the Flames (wearing their terrible alternate jerseys) a 1-0 lead at 5:17 of the second period. First, Reilly Smith turned the puck over in Calgary's end setting off a rush up ice. Then Tuukka Rask (26 saves) couldn't stop a seeing eye shot by Jiri Hudler which he normally makes no problem. With their litany of injuries reaching critical mass (six regulars out of the lineup tonight), it seemed like Boston's offense had dried up.

That was until former Bruins first-round draft pick Joe Colborne got called for delay of game after clearing the puck over the glass in his own end. David Krejci tied it at 13:49 of the third period by tipping Torey Krug's shot from the point (that was meant to be tipped). Zdeno Chara had the second assist on Krejci's sixth goal of the season.

Just 1:38 later, Reilly Smith tallied the game-winner with a brilliant move around a Calgary defenseman then up high on Reto Berra (22 saves). Ryan Spooner assisted on Smith's seventh goal of the season (nobody has exceeded expectations quite like him on the Bruins so far this season).

Boston continues its tour of Western Canada with a visit to Edmonton (11-18-3) on Thursday (9:30, NESN) to see former Bruin Andrew Ference-the captain of the Oilers. Edmonton is currently the worst team in the Western Conference, one point behind the Flames. Remember when everyone (myself included) thought the Oilers would sneak into the playoffs this season? Yeah not so much.

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