Bruins-Flames Preview: Important Points At Stake As Playoff Race Intensifies

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames conclude their regular-season series Thursday night at TD Garden in desperate need of two points.

Both clubs have a slim lead for a playoff spot in their respective conferences.

Boston is two points ahead of the Florida Panthers and four points ahead of the Ottawa Senators for the last wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, while Calgary leads the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division because of the regulation and overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker. Those three teams each have 72 points.

Earning two points won’t be easy for the Bruins. The Flames are among the NHL’s hardest-working teams and lead the league with 10 wins when trailing after the second period. The B’s took a 3-1 lead into third period when these teams last met on Feb. 16 in Calgary, but the Flames scored twice in the final 20 minutes of regulation before winning in overtime.

“They compete hard,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said of the Flames. “They have a lot of confidence in their game. Because they play that type of game, they have a tendency to wear teams down at times and they’ve been able to make some pretty impressive comebacks.

“Again, it goes back to what I’ve said for the last few weeks, it’s not who we play, but how we play, and we have to understand that every game has a big meaning from here on end.”

TV, Radio Information: NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub

Season Series: 1-0 Flames (Calgary won 4-3 on Feb. 16)

Record: Boston (31-22-9, fourth in Atlantic), Calgary (34-25-4, third in Pacific)

Bruins Player To Watch: Newly acquired Max Talbot will make his Bruins debut Thursday night and he could play in a number of positions on the fourth line because of his ability to be effective at center or either wing spot.

“He can play both (wings) and depending on what ends up happening tonight, whether (Chris Kelly) goes at center or the wing, or vice versa or I move guys,” Julien said. “I can always move (Dan Paille) down again and Kelly up. So there’s a lot of different things I can do. But he can play both and I like the fact on a lot of occasions, especially in our own end, that you have two guys that can take draws on the same line.”

Talbot said he’s “excited” and has some “butterflies” as game time approaches, but as for his role and style of play, not much has changed for him.

“It’s the same, I think it’s been the same since Day 1 of my career,” Talbot said. “It’s to bring my passion, my energy and my defensive awareness. I’m excited to be here.”

Flames Player To Watch: Mark Giordano received a lot of the praise on the Calgary blue line before his season-ending injury, and rightly so because he was the top candidate for the Norris Trophy and a worthy Hart Trophy candidate.

His partner, T.J. Brodie, also has enjoyed a fantastic season and is among the league’s most underrated defensemen. The Flames have attempted 4.7 percent more 5-on-5 shot attempts than opponents when Brodie has been on the ice this season, and that’s the ninth-best mark among all defensemen. He also ranks sixth on the Flames in scoring with 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists) in 63 games.

Key Stat For Bruins: Boston’s penalty kill struggled in February with a 76.6 percent success rate (23 for 30). The Bruins have given up a power-play goal in five of their last seven games.

Key Stat For Flames: Calgary ranks second with 87 third-period goals scored and boasts an impressive plus-30 goal differential in the third period.

Thumbnail photo via Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports Images