BOSTON — The Bruins have given up valuable points in the playoff race with poor shootout performances this season.
Boston lost its seventh consecutive shootout in a 4-3 defeat Thursday night at TD Garden when Calgary Flames defenseman David Schlemko scored a beautiful Peter Forsberg-esque goal to end the game.
“He has a few variations of it actually, so it was pretty nifty,” Flames defenseman Kris Russell said of Schlemko’s shootout move. “He had a lot of the (guys)Â surprised on the bench, but it was a great move, and I donât think a goalie is expecting that kind of move at that time. It worked, and it was great.”
The Bruins scored only once in the shootout when Patrice Bergeron beat Flames goalie Karri Ramo in Round 7. Bergeron’s goal snapped Boston’s 0-for-24 drought in shootout attempts.
The B’s have scored on 13 percent of their shots in the shootout this season, which ranks 29th in the NHL. That said, they have the sixth-best save percentage (.783), so the problem is a lack of finish and not goaltending. In fact, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has stopped 17 of his last 20 shots against (85 percent) in shootouts dating to Boston’s Feb. 18 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins have scored only one shootout goal in that span.
“Well, itâs always tough to take, and you go back — I donât know how many years — look at my comments about (shootouts),” Rask said. “They suck, because itâs such an emotional difference between winning and losing in a shootout, and this season, we havenât been really good at them. So it sucks even more. But I heard theyâre getting rid of them soon, so letâs get that 3-on-3 (overtime format)Â going. That would be better.”
— The Bruins had an 89-52 shot attempt edge and a 67-34 advantage at even strength, but the shots-on-goal tally was much closer (37-32 Boston) because the Flames blocked 37 shots, 27 more than the B’s.
Calgary defenseman Kris Russell played 32:22, was a minus-30 Corsi at even strength and blocked 15 shots. No one has blocked more shots in a single game since the 2004-05 lockout, per Sportsnet.
— The Bruins’ penalty kill has given up a goal in six of the last eight games and a total of seven overall in that span.
“Staying out of the box is an important part of the game for us, especially when you struggle to score goals, and our penalty kill right now has been giving up too many goals,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “Weâve got to get ourselves right in that department.”
— Entering Thursday’s game, the Flames hadn’t scored at TD Garden since Oct. 19, 2006, a span of 189:36 without a goal. That drought grew to 208:25 before it was snapped by a power-play goal from Sean Monahan at the 18:49 mark of the first period.
— Entering Thursday, Rask ranked fourth among NHL goalies with a .936 adjusted save percentage since Jan. 1, per War on Ice. He made 29 saves on 32 Calgary shots for a .906 save percentage.
—Â The Bruins signed forward Justin Hickman to an entry-level contract Thursday, the team announced. The 20-year-old center has played five seasons for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. He tallied 28 points (nine goals, 29 assists) in 31 games for the Thunderbirds this season before having his campaign end because of shoulder surgery. Hickman also scored one goal in five games for the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season.
— Eleven 11Â players in NHL history have scored twice in a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins now have three of those players: Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron from the 2011 Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks, and newly acquired forward Max Talbot, who scored twice in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ championship-clinching win in 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings.
— Bruins legend Milt Schmidt celebrated his 97th birthday Thursday.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
