Calgary Flames roughed up by Boston Bruins
Boston snapped Calgary’s three-game winning streak Tuesday night at the sold-out Scotia bank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, dominating the Flames to a 3-1 victory. Coming fresh out of the thrilling NHL Heritage Classic 2011, the Flames weren’t able
to overcome Boston as they did with the Canadiens, but they didn’t go down easily.
Flames fans were still pumped from their previous event and didn’t let this match let their hopes down. Miikka Kiprusoff made a wonderful 26 saves, not much less than counterpart Tim Thomas who made 28 and looked fresh playing his first game in a week.
It could have been all that cold they faced on Sunday against Montreal in the outdoor stadium that didn’t let Kiprusoff adjust to the indoor weather; he lagged in performance during the first and final periods of the match. Boston took control of the
game in the first opening minutes of game time; Milan Lucic blasted his 25th of the season through Kiprusoff by a tip-off from David Krejci who assisted 2 goals.
Jarome Iginla had a breakaway opportunity a few minutes later when Michael Ryder was booked for Steve Staios, but couldn’t get past the veteran Thomas on goal.
It was 1-0 in favour of Boston entering the second period, where Calgary’s defenseman gave it their all blocking the puck from reaching anywhere near Kiprusoff. The fans went wild in anger when Curtis Glencross was sent to the benches for a four minute
penalty, answering back in the third period when scoring Calgary’s only goal on a power play.
If it hadn’t have been for Brad Marchand, Curtis’s shot near the end would have tied it up, but unluckily, Milan Lucic scored his second of the night when eyeing an opportunity at an empty net with Kiprusoff distracted with less than a minute left
in the final.
Well, all good things must end at some point or another. But Calgary is sure happy that it didn’t forfeit its points to a Western Conference rival, still standing strong tied for 5th place with Nashville and Minnesota. Boston
now converting this win into its 3 in a row shows high hopes in the upcoming days, with a refreshed roster and well rested goalie; they are now tied for second in the Eastern Conference with Tampa Bay.
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