The third straight trip to extra time was not a charm for the Bruins in Calgary.
After winning at home in a shootout against Dallas on Monday and then in overtime against the Oilers in Edmonton on Wednesday, the B’s took the Flames to an entertaining overtime at the Saddledome on Thursday. But after the B’s missed on several chances for the winner, including a Mason Lohrei shot that hit the crossbar, Nazem Kadri beat Linus Ullmark on a wrist shot from the left circle with 1:04 left in overtime for the 3-2 Calgary win.
The OT winner, as it so often is, came after a missed chance at the other end. David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy had a 2-on-0 at one end and Pastrnak elected to shoot. Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom made the save, sending the Flames off on a 3-on-1. Kadri kept it all the way and beat Ullmark from low in the circle for the walk-off.
With the chances they had for the go-ahead goal in the third and the winner in OT, it was a tough loss. But with the way the B’s started the game, it wasn’t a bad point earned, especially after such a taxing game in Edmonton on Wednesday.
“All these points add up. We want to make sure we rack up as many as we can and sometimes you’ve got to grind your way to doo that,” said Charlie Coyle, who scored both Bruin goals. “It kind of stings when you don’t get the full two (points), but you can’t really fault our effort too much.”
The Bruins were not good in the first period in which they fell behind 2-1. The Flames even gave them a gift late in the period, but the B’s gave it right back to them.
Calgary held a 16-8 shot advantage and a territorial edge that might have been greater than the shots indicated. Much like the first meeting at the Garden two weeks ago, the Flames won the majority of 50-50 battles and did a solid job of taking away the B’s space.
The Flames took the first lead of the game off the rush when defenseman Oliver Kylington, the trailer who was not picked up by any Bruin defender, beat Ullmark from the high slot to the glove side at 12:55.
The B’s got that one back.
Late in the period, Lohrei tried to connect with Brad Marchand on a stretch pass up the middle but it was just out of reach. That created a race between Marchand and Markstrom that Markstrom won. But the goalie was way out of his net and, when his clear attempt up the middle of the ice went right to Coyle, the B’s center was able to fire it into the empty net with 1:19 left in the period. That snapped an eight-game goal-less streak for Coyle.
But the B’s could not go into the first break tied up as they allowed another rebound goal just 42 seconds later. Connor Zary fired a puck on net that produced a rebound off Ullmark. Continuing a troubling trend, an opponent was first to the puck with Martin Pospisil tapping in the gimme with 36.1 seconds left in the period.
It could have been a killer goal, but it wasn’t.
“We showed some grit,” said Ullmark. “We didn’t start the way we wanted to, but we had a good conversation and we were high in spirits after the first one and we knew what needed to be done to be successful out there and we showed that in the second and third and we battled back. We stuck with it and got a point out of it.”
Sensing some players had dead legs, coach Jim Montgomery switched up his lines in the second period but went back to his original units when the team got its groove back.
“I hated our start, but we were sluggish,” said Montgomery. “We were better in the second and I thought our legs were best in the third.”
Chances started to come in the second period for the B’s, but not any goals. On one power play, Pavel Zacha could not get all of a rebound chance and then Markstrom robbed Pastrnak after he was set up beautifully by Marchand. Then Jakub Lauko was sent off on a clean breakaway by James van Riemsdyk but he couldn’t get his shot under Markstrom’s blocker.
The B’s had a late power play that was nullified when Pastrnak was called for a phantom slash.
The B’s outshot the Flames 11-5 in the second period, but they still had work to do, starting with 30 seconds of penalty kill to start the third.
They did so, and then tied the game at 2:33. Anthony Richard made a smart pass off the boards from his own zone to sprung Coyle for a partial break. Coming in on the right wing, the big centerman used his body to shield the puck from the Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson, cut across the top of the crease and beat Markstrom on a backhander for his 20th.
“I think (Richard) is starting to believe that he belongs,” said Montgomery.
The B’s had chances for the go-ahead goal but were denied and in the final seconds, the Flames clanged the post before Charlie McAvoy cleared the puck from danger to send it to extra time.
The B’s got the one point, but they could not complete the Alberta sweep.