Bruins Beat the Flames At Their Own Game, Outgunning Them 6-4 For Their Third Straight Win

Somehow the Flames (25-13-4) rolled into Boston as not only the top team in the Pacific Division but also the club with the most points in the Western Conference. With their better goaltender (David Rittich) scratched with an injury, Calgary had to rely on Mr. Unreliable in between the pipes-Mike Smith (12-9-1). Boston (23-14-4) took advantage of that lopsided matchup as they beat the Flames 6-4 at TD Garden in a very entertaining contest. Coupled with their thrilling 3-2 overtime victory in Buffalo (22-13-6) on Saturday night and Tuesday's awesome 4-2 Winter Classic win vs. Chicago (15-21-7) at Notre Dame Stadium, the B's have won three games in a row.

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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At 20-2-4 In The Last 26 Games: You Can't Stop the Bruins, You Can Only Hope to Contain Them

It's tough to guess how long this will last for but at this moment, it is time to embrace the fact that your Boston Bruins (35-12-8) are the best team in the NHL. What does this mean on Valentine's Day? Well nothing tangible but as they rack up all these wins (8-2-0 in their last 10 games) and own the best goal-differential in the league (+52), the expectations for what they can ultimately do this spring (which is all that really ever matters) likewise start to burst at the seams. Calgary (29-20-8) is a good team from the rugged Pacific Division that is fighting for every point that they can get just to sneak into the Western Conference playoffs. Boston spotted them an early 2-1 lead in the first period tonight at TD Garden but proceeded to reel off four straight goals en route to the somewhat misleading 5-2 victory.

Calgary's usual starting goaltender Mike Smith (23-16-6) got hurt in Sunday's 3-2 win against the Islanders (27-25-6) which meant that something named David Rittich (5-2-2) blessed us with his presence. I was hoping to see PC's own Jon Gillies (recently called up from the minors) between the pipes for the Flames but alas it wasn't meant to be. For awhile, this nameless character stood on his head (35 saves) as Boston scored first 28 seconds into the contest then tied it at two late in the second period. The Flames are the second-best road team in the league (16-7-5; behind the Bruins of course) but they predictably fell apart in the third period as the B's improved to 19-7-4 at the Garden.

Riley Nash and Patrice Bergeron both scored a pair of goals for the home team while David Backes (who moved up to the top line after David Pastrnak was temporarily demoted for his silly slashing penalty) had two assists. Nash gave the B's the 1-0 lead right off the bat by putting in a pass from Backes. Matt Grzelcyk had the second assist on Nash's ninth goal of the season. Grzelcyk returned the favor by coughing up the puck a few minutes later, leading to an easy tally for Calgary's Sam Bennett (his 8th of the season), assisted by Brown alum and Maine native Garnet Hathaway. It was a big night for local college hockey products since BC's Johnny Gaudreau gave the Flames their only lead of the entire game at 9:12 of the first period. Tuukka Rask (28 saves; 23-9-4) made two saves before Johnny Hockey was there to deposit a rebound for his 19th goal of the season (7-game point streak). Did you know that Gaudreau is the second-leading scorer in the league? I'd say that he's been a great pro thus far in his young professional career North of the border.

Nash tied his career-high with his 10th goal of the year at 16:20 of the second (he also had 10 for the Hurricanes in 2013-14). Tim Schaller and Charlie McAvoy assisted on the pretty goal for the Bruins who doubled up the Flames for shots on goal (16-8) in that frame. Bergeron is putting together the best season that he's ever had in his storied career so it was only fitting that he potted a power-play goal 1:15 into the third. Torey Krug had the stretch pass that sprung him on the breakaway that resulted in his 26th goal of 2017-18. A little over eight minutes later, he gave Boston a two-goal lead which basically equals curtains for the opponent. Bergeron tipped in a shot from Brad Marchand with Backes picking up the other helper. Zdeno Chara put the proverbial cherry on top of this delicious black and gold sundae with a 200-foot empty netter for his sixth goal of the season.

The Bruins' next home game isn't for two weeks (Feb. 27 vs. Carolina) so it was nice to see them head off on their long journey with another two points in their travel bags. Who knows, they could have a new player or two (pray that it's Rangers stud defenseman Ryan McDonagh) by the time that they get back to town since the NHL Trade Deadline is on February 26. Their upcoming five-game road trip doesn't begin until Saturday night (10, NESN) in Vancouver (22-28-6). From there, they work their way back from Western Canada with a President's Day matinee (4, NESN) in Calgary on Monday followed by a visit to Edmonton (23-28-4) the next night (9, NESN). They are in Toronto (34-19-5) on Saturday (7, NESN), February 24 and the road trip mercifully ends in Buffalo (17-30-10) on Sunday (5, NESN). Who needs to go to the West Coast or down South in the middle of the winter when you can go to all of these lovely places?

Tampa Bay (38-16-3) surprisingly lost 5-3 in Buffalo this evening which leaves Boston just one point behind the Lightning for the best record in the NHL with two games in hand. Vegas (37-15-4) still paces the Western Conference with Nashville (34-12-9) a point behind the Golden Knights for the best record in the West. Think about it: this is the lofty company that the Bruins currently keeps. The postseason remains off in the distance (still 2 months away) but this stuff has to be noted while we pass the time through the marathon that is known as an NHL regular season. The Celtics (40-18) rightfully got plenty of attention for the early part of their season as they were the best team in the Eastern Conference. Now that they have come back to Earth a bit-dropping to second in the East behind Toronto (40-16)-you can reasonably conclude that the B's actually present more of a threat in terms of championship contention this summer in their respective sport. This is something to keep in mind while you figure out which team to devote more of your precious attention to the rest of the way.

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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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