Calgary Flames (5) Boston Bruins (2): Flames Score Early And Put Bruins Away

Calgary Flames 5 Boston Bruins 2

Complete Stats

Recap

The Flames did exactly what we said they had to do to win: score early and often and get to Tuukka Rask. Calgary pumped in 3 first period goals and had Rask on his heel early and the Flames never looked back.

While this score made this game seem like it was a runaway victory for the Flames, it wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination. Calgary had to contend with the highest scoring line in the NHL, kill off a 5 on 3 to a dangerous PP team and handle a team that had won 4 straight after getting blown out 7-0 in their season opener. In spite of all that, the Flames handled their business Wednesday night.

Calgary played solid defence for most of the night and they got a Grade A performance from Mike Smith, Smith held a Flames 3-0 first lead and backstopped Calgary the rest of the way. Boston sent 26 shots Smith’s way and he was able to turn aside 24 of them and hold the dangerous Bruins to an 0-4 with the man advantage.

While Smith did all he could do, Calgary’s hero in this game was the recently scratched Michael Frolik. Frolik hasn’t been a healthy scratch in 6 years, yet Bill Peters gave the veteran the night off against Colorado and he responded tonight. Frolik was a key cog in slowing down the Bruins top line and he scored 2 goals on 3 shots in his return to the lineup to pace the Flames.

This game had the potential to go completely sideways on paper, but the Flames withstood an early Bruins onslaught, which lead to the Flames taking over momentum in the first. Mike Smith set the tone and Calgary scored 3 first period goals to, in effect, put the game away early. Johnny Gaudreau, Juuso Valimaki (1st career NHL goal) and Matthew Tkachuk would also find the back of the net and the Flames would win their 2nd game at home and their second in a row.

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st Period: Frolik (2) (Backlund, Tkachuk), Gaudreau (3) (Monahan, Hanifin), Valimaki (1) (Stone, Jankowski)

2nd Period: Frolik (3) (Backlund)

3rd Period: Tkachuk (2) (Stone)

Boston Bruins

1st Period: None

2nd Period: Bergeron (6) (Krejci), Marchand (2) (Bergeron, Pastrnak)

3rd Period: None

Final Thoughts

The Flames have now played 4 of the NHL’s stronger teams so far this season and come out in the win column 3 times. The Flames played as a complete team tonight and took down the Boston Bruins. Sure, the Bruins top line got 2 goals, but the Flames were able to shut down the Bruins PP, keeping them off the scoreboard on all 4 times they had the man advantage. The Flames were able to match the Bruins speed and scoring early completely changed the makeup of the game. Mike Smith made some fantastic 1st period saves and that momentum gave the Flames all the push they needed, scoring 3 straight goals to take a quick 3-0 lead.

Flame Of The Game

Michael Frolik (F). Frolik bounced back from being benched to score 2 goals and help the Flames partially shut down the Bruins top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Yes, that line scored, but Frolik had a large hand in keeping them in check and his offence in his return to the lineup was a sight for sore eyes.

What’s Next?

10/19: Calgary Flames vs Nashville Predators, 7 PM MT

by Mark Parkinson