Bruins vs. Flames RECAP: Pastrnak completes comeback in 4-3 OT ...

That was a wonderful win.

Please don’t ever do that again.

1st Period

In perhaps an omen of things to come, the Bruins got outshot and outchanced pretty badly by the Flames, but mercifully things stayed quiet enough that Boston was able to leave this period without surrendering a goal, but also without anything to show for it.

2nd Period

Things began wi-

Mr. Coronato, could you give me a minute to talk about the poor start? I was talking about how the Bruins weren’t matching the Flames energy and it cost them with just about everybody losing him while trying to go to the boards. 1-0 Flames.

Then, while they were still announcing Matt Coronato’s goal, Nazem Kadri was left relatively unmarked by the Bruins and he potted home a goal on a screen out front, and that put the Flames up 2-0.

Good god, guys.

Then, Elias Lindholm, who’d been actually playing pretty well to this point, was rewarded when a puck bounced away from the Flames in the Neutral Zone, sending him on his own to face down Dustin Wolf, and he floated the puck past him to get Boston on the board! 2-1 Flames

By the way Marchand 1000% deserves an assist on this goal. It’s ludicrous the NHL decided it didn’t count as one.

Unfortunately, the comeback began to look harder and harder to mount, and Ryan Lomberg tipping a Connor Zary shot past Swayman made it seem all the worse. 3-1 Flames.

Mercifully, things didn’t get worse past that point, and the Bruins limped into the dressing room.

3rd Period

Then...things got interesting. Boston buried Calgary in chances all period, and they bore fruit early as Morgan Geekie potted home a rebound off of Wolf that none of the Flames seemed to notice was leaving Wolf’s pads. 3-2 Flames.

Then, less than 2 minutes later, Brad Marchand took a Lindholm pass to keep the Flames pinned in their own end and begin puckwatching hard, which allowed Marc McLaughlin the time to get right up on Dustin Wolf and hack away at the puck until he finally got it through him, tying the game! 3-3 Everybody!

While Boston wouldn’t score again in regulation, it really cannot be overstated that they very easily could’ve; Calgary played this final period enormously passively, and the Bruins got chance after excellent chance on Dustin Wolf, with the Flames just barely able to keep it out.

The horn sounded, and both teams prepared for extra time.

Overtime

3-on-3 is never a guarantee, but Boston tried to make it as easy as possible on themselves; getting all chances through on

Bruins WIN 4-3! Game Notes Your TOI Leader was Charlie McAvoy, who played 23:24 last night. What a difference a strong period makes, huh? Boston’s slow start seemed like we were in for a sluggish game, and the 2nd period’s sloppiness seemed to suggest that it was the case in spite of hammering Wolf with shots. They managed to finally corral the game and have Calgary playing on the backfoot in the third and in OT; finally making life difficult for Dustin Wolf even more than they already had. The turnaround was both welcome, and successful. That said part of the reason they were even in that jam to begin with was some truly agonizing decision-making on the part of the team’s defensive structure for much of the middle period. Of the three scored against Boston in this game, the Bruins made it real easy on Calgary to get quality shots off, and it only swung back the other way once they began hammering Wolf in the third. I’m happy they came back, but man...they cannot keep doing that. Elias Lindholm finished the night with that very funky goal and an all-important assist on McLaughlin’s tally, and he’s needed a game like this badly. Given his propensity for deep inconsistency this season, I really hope he takes this effort as a baseline. He was excellent, and earned his first star of the game with flying colors. There was a non-zero chance this game would’ve ended up on the stick of Nazem Kadri had Charlie McAvoy not completely blocked him out and pulled the puck all the way off of him in OT, which set up the Pastrnak winner. Cannot overstate how huge of a play that was; and ended an otherwise pretty mediocre night on McAvoy’s part with a major positive. If he can do more of that in the upcoming game against Edmonton? Now we’re talking. Back to back games with goals for Morgan Geekie and Marc McLaughlin! Who’d have guessed? Thankfully McLaughlin’s tally didn’t require any sleuthing to ensure, and Geekie’s was just excellent positioning catching the Flames with their pants down. That’s what we need more of from these guys; not just hitting the net with shots, but following up on those shots with more shots while the opposing defense is trying to set back up. Haven’t had enough of that lately. Apparently the Referees didn’t see much of anything worth calling tonight, as the only team to get penalized was Calgary in the third period. I personally very much doubt that was the case, especially when it came to the game winning goalscorer getting cross-checked in the back which received zero attention, but I don’t get the whistle and the funny hand gestures to implicate an ice crime. Of the goals Swayman gave up, I think realistically only one of those goals is one you’d like to have back; all the rest were being teed up by the guys out in front of him. That said, an .870 SV% on 23 shots against a fringe playoff team isn’t gonna change any hearts and minds, especially given how quick they gave them up, so let’s hope a better performance awaits him next game.

The Bruins stay in Alberta, heading to Edmonton to face the Oilers on Thursday. That game is at 9pm EST.

We’ll see you there!