BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Flames 3 - B’s weather scoring storm, rally back for 5th straight win

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 win over the Flames in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

B's survive scoring frenzy: The Bruins might not even need Ondrej Kase if they can overcome deficits like this. All joking aside, the Bruins found themselves in an absolute barn burner from the drop of the puck at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night — with the B’s and Flames lighting the lamp four times in the opening 3:23 of the contest. Despite relinquishing three of those tallies during that frantic start, the Bruins did not let an early hole bury them against Calgary — as Boston rallied back for a 4-3 victory to secure its fifth win in a row and its 11th in its last 12 games. Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand all scored for the Bruins, who improve to 39-11-12 on the season and now sit five points ahead of the Lightning in the Atlantic Division standings. 

A horrid start from a sleepwalking B’s defense allowed Mikael Backlund to beat Jaroslav Halak twice just 2:34 into the opening period, but Bergeron’s 28th tally of the season stemmed the tide just 24 seconds later. Perhaps “stem the tide” might be the wrong phrase, given that Johnny Gaudreau made it a 3-1 game less than 30 seconds later. Ultimately, Calgary’s opening salvo was not enough to slow down the B’s — as Bruce Cassidy’s club answered back in the first frame with a pair of goals from Bergeron and Coyle to knot the game up at 3-3 going into the first intermission. 

A tip-in goal off the stick of Marchand just 52 seconds into the second gave Boston its first lead of the night — and that was all that Boston needed to shut down the Flames over the final 39:08 of regulation play. Despite a rough start, Halak stopped the final 18 shots that came his way en route to the win. 

Boston’s victory marked just the seventh time in NHL history in which a team has won a game after allowing three goals within the first four minutes of the contest. Not too shabby. 

THREE UP

Patrice Bergeron: Bergeron continues to be on a warpath since the bye week, with the B’s top-line center lighting the lamp twice in the first 6:12 of Friday’s matchup. Bergeron has now scored in five consecutive games and seven times in his last seven outings. The veteran pivot, whose previous career-high for goals in a season is 32, might be setting a new milestone within the next week if he keeps this up. 

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Charlie Coyle: Bergeron might be on a heater right now, but Coyle has also picked a pretty good time to put together one of his best stretches as a Bruin. After a clutch block from Anders Bjork and a heads-up feed from Karson Kuhlman, Coyle buried Boston’s equalizer at 12:20 in the first — roofing the puck past Cam Talbot to close out his breakaway bid. Coyle is now up to six goals and seven total points over his last seven games. 

Jeremy Lauzon: He may not have contributed to Boston’s scoring outburst, but the young defenseman did plenty of the little things that contributed to a win. After dropping the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk in the second (keeping the Flames’ top scorer off the ice for five minutes), Lauzon stepped up during the Flames’ final power-play bid in the third — blocking a blast from Dillon Dube in the closing seconds of the 5v4 sequence. 

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TWO DOWN

Brandon Carlo: While Carlo, much like the B’s defense, rebounded as the game went along —  the young blueliner had a rough go of it in the opening five minutes of the contest. After getting stuck in no-man’s land on Backlund’s opening tally, Carlo’s failed chip-in attempt minutes later allowed the Flames to skate in on an odd-man counter rush— culminating in another goal from Backlund at 2:34. 

Krejci Line: Don’t worry, guys — Kase is on his way. That’s good news for Krejci, as Boston’s second line struggled for most of Friday’s matchup. In the 11:16 of 5v5 ice time that the DeBrusk-Krejci-Heinen line logged, Boston was outscored, 1-0, and out-attempted, 13-7. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

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PARTING THOUGHTS

Jack Edwards was not too thrilled about an elbowing call against Matt Grzelcyk in the opening period. 

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their three-game road trip in Western Canada on Saturday night, with the B’s set to take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m.