BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Flames 2 - Ullmark shines again as B’s close out road trip on high note

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Flames, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

The underlying numbers may not be all that kind to the Bruins — but it’s hard to argue with the results.

Despite getting outshot, 42-27, on Saturday night, the Bruins made the most of the chances they were able to generate against a stingy Flames team — scoring four 5v5 tallies en route to an impressive 4-2 win over Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

Connor Clifton, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Curtis Lazar all scored for the Bruins, who improve to 14-8-2 on the season. Linus Ullmark was spectacular once again, stopping 40 of the 42 shots that came his way.

The opening 20 minutes weren't all that kind to the Bruins, with Calgary controlling play in Boston’s zone and holding a 15-5 edge in 5v5 scoring chances. 

However, the B’s made their looks count against Jacob Markstrom, with Clifton racing down the boards on a rush and snapping a puck past the netminder off a tough angle at 17:43 — giving Boston a 1-0 lead entering the first intermission.

Boston’s shot volume didn’t spike in the second, with the B’s only landing eight pucks in against Markstrom in the frame. But once again, Boston opted for quality over quantity — with two of those eight shots sailing into twine to give Boston some breathing room. 

Marchand padded Boston’s lead at 5:52 when he tipped a David Pastrnak shot past Markstrom for his 11th goal of the season — while McAvoy lit the lamp just 56 seconds later to give Boston a three-goal cushion. 

Matthew Tkachuk eventually got the home club on the board via a power-play tally at 12:19 in the second, but Boston stymied any momentum in the third — with Lazar pushing the B’s lead back up to three with his goal just 2:57 into the final period of action.

Sean Monahan added a garbage-time tally — but it was far too late for the Flames to orchestrate a rally.  

The Bruins close out their Western Canada road trip with five out of a possible six points — and currently boast a seven-game point streak in road games. 

FOUR UP

Linus Ullmark: So, THIS is the guy that the Bruins shelled out $20 million for back in July. Over his last five games, Ullmark is now 4-1-0 with a .941 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron: With his two-assist night, Bergeron moved further up in the B’s record books — moving into sole possession of fourth place on Boston’s all-time assists list with 555 career helpers. Next up on the list? Some guy named Orr with 624 assists. 

Frederic Line: The Bruins will certainly welcome any 5v5 contributions given their scoring drought this season — but it was especially encouraging to see a lot of productive shifts put forth by the club’s checking unit. Nothing flashy, but if big bodies like Trent Frederic (two assists) and north-south skaters like Anton Blidh continue to crash the net and create havoc, more chances will develop for those fourth-line grinders — such as the one that Lazar potted down low for his second goal of the season.

The Frederic line might have only logged 5:37 of 5v5 ice time tonight, but the B’s will certainly take a 2-0 edge in goals scored during that stretch. 

Charlie McAvoy: Despite a few rough stretches with Derek Forbort, McAvoy put together another strong outing on the blue line – scoring his fourth tally of the season and logging 26:47 of ice time. The next Bruin with the highest TOI on Saturday? John Moore at 19:30. 

ONE DOWN

Haula Line: The Bruins received plenty of heavy lifting from its checking line, but the third line of Nick Foligno, Erik Haula and Jake DeBrusk failed to make much of an impact — with Haula’s game, in particular, reverting back to his sub-standard play from November. In total, the Bruins were outshot, 6-1, during that line’s 8:36 of 5v5 ice time.

LOOSE PUCKS

Finishing can go a long way …

Throughout this season, the Bruins have built a reputation as a team that often piles on shots and holds some sizable leads in a few fancy metrics like expected goals — but often fails to translate those Grade-A looks into tangible goals.

Well, it’s been a reversal of fortunes over the last two games for the Bruins — with the Oilers and Flames holding a 108-72 edge in shot attempts and 53-31 advantage in scoring chances during 5v5 play. 

And yet, despite those uncharacteristic shot margins, the Bruins outscored both the Oilers and Flames, 5-1, during 5v5 action en route to two massive regulation wins.

Perhaps some of it is just plain puck luck falling Boston’s way, but the B’s have also been aided by their woefully low shooting percentage and snake-bitten finishing ability finally reverting back up to the mean. 

Now, that’s not to say that the Bruins are suddenly going to replicate the same offensive salvos put forth by teams like the Avalanche. But given the complete dearth of finishing talent and puck luck that has hindered this team so far this season, nights like tonight sure seemed inevitable.  

This team sure isn’t perfect, but they’re a lot better than just a fringe playoff squad. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

It was great to see Milan Lucic finally able to get some recognition for logging his 1,000th career game last year — and it was even better than his former club in the Bruins was on hand for the event.

Lucic, 33, was given a standing ovation during the first period of Saturday’s contest, with a few of his former B’s teammates taking part in the tribute that played out on the Saddledome’s video board.  

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now head home for a brief one-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. from TD Garden.