A statement by B’s
Strong win at Calgary
CALGARY, Alberta — The Bruins will play bigger games down the stretch in their push for a playoff spot, and certainly games that will have more meaning in the Atlantic Division standings.
But as far as statements go, the Bruins’ 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames last night at the Saddledome was pretty strong.
In a game that featured shaky netminding by the backup goalies on both sides, the Bruins took the lead in the second period and hung on to snap Calgary’s win streak at 10 games.
Interim coach Bruce Cassidy acknowledged the team’s solid defensive effort in the third period played a key role in the win.
“We’re getting better at that, understanding the urgency involved in winning games, what you’ve got to do to prevent scoring chances,” said Cassidy.
The Bruins took a 3-2 lead into the third on goals by David Pastrnak (29), Brad Marchand (36) and David Backes (15), and then pushed it to a two-goal edge 3:36 into the third on a Matt Beleskey score off a 2-onnone break-in with Ryan Spooner.
Backes’ score proved to be the winner and more impressively came after returning from what appeared to be serious knee injury.
Things were looking good until the B’s lost Backes in the first period. He was chasing down a puck in the corner when Calgary’s Mark Giordano chopped at Backes’ left knee, causing it to buckle. He crashed hard into the boards, with the knee taking the brunt of the impact. Backes tried to get up but struggled. He needed assistance to get off the ice. Then he surprisingly returned early in the second period. And, soon after had an impact.
“Just to see a guy like that come out and be warrior,” said defenseman Brandon Carlo. “It’s not easy to come back when you’re hurting and play that well like he did. He came out and really lifted the team there, which was awesome. As soon as he came back out on the ice, everyone was happy and excited and pretty much brought a new energy.”
Backes simply felt he had to get back out there
“It’s maybe scary at the time, but you get back with the training staff and they rub it and kiss it and make it feel better and you’re able to return to the game,” he said. “The way guys were battling and playing for each other, I wanted to make sure that if there was a chance that I’d get back out there and try to help our team win another game.”
The proceedings did not get off to a good start for the Bruins. They took two penalties in the first 6:22, but they were able to kill off both man-down situations.
They were unable to avoid allowing the game’s first goal, however. Alex Chiasson took a short feed from Lance Bouma behind the net and made a pretty spin move to get the puck on his forehand at the side of the net. Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin had good position, but Chiasson was able to jam it over Khudobin’s stick at 9:23.
The Bruins leveled the score at 11:47 as Zdeno Chara chased down a loose puck in the neutral zone and made a nice pass to Pastrnak in stride going down the right wing. From a good distance out, Pastrnak beat Calgary goalie Chad Johnson through the 5-hole. It was a soft goal and Pastrnak’s 29th of the season.
But first, the Bruins gained a gift, and then re-gifted it back to the Flames.
The Bruins took their first lead of the game when Johnson muffed an easy dump-in and Brad Marchand pounced on it. He went around another former teammate, Matt Bartkowski, and then tucked it past Johnson for his leagueleading 36th goal at 6:04.
But just 1:10 later, another former Bruins player, Dougie Hamilton, was heard from. From the neutral zone just inside the blue line, the defenseman fired a wrist shot that eluded Khudobin for terrible goal, even if the goalie may have been screened a bit by Torey Krug.
The Bruins regained the lead for good on a Backes’ game-winner at 11:03.