The Boston Bruins played with fire Tuesday night at TD Garden — both literally and figuratively — but in the end, they came out on top.
Boston squandered an early lead over the red-hot Calgary Flames, allowing two goals in the first period to fall behind 2-1. But the B’s aggressive play finally paid off, as they tied the game in the second period when they outshot the Flames 17-4, and Patrice Bergeron netted two third-period goals to give the B’s a 5-2 win, their 20th victory in their last 25 games.
Tuukka Rask was solid in his return to the net, stopping 27 of the 29 shots that were sent his way.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 35-12-8, while the Flames fell to 29-20-8.
Here’s how it all went down:
JUST LIKE THAT
The Bruins, who have been plagued by slow starts recently, jumped on the Flames just 28 seconds into the game. David Backes found Riley Nash on the doorstep for a quick bang-bang goal. It was Nash’s ninth goal of the season.
FLAMES ANSWER QUICKLY
The B’s early lead didn’t last long, as a botched exchange by Noel Acciari and Matt Grzelcyk near the Boston net led to a Sam Bennett goal.
And Calgary wasn’t done in the first period, as Boston College product Johnny Gaudreau tucked one off Rask’s pad at the 9:12 mark to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
FINALLY, AN EQUALIZER
The B’s outshot the Flames 15-4 throughout the first 15 minutes of the second period, but had nothing to show for it as Calgary netminder David Rittich continued to turn them away.
Boston finally broke through at the 16:20 mark in the period. Charlie McAvoy picked off a T.J. Brodie clearing attempt in the neutral zone and flew to the net. He slid the puck to Tim Schaller, who fed Nash for his second goal of the night.
BERGY LIGHTS THE LAMP X2
The game remained tied until the 1:15 mark in the third period. The Bruins went on the power play when Michael Frolik was sent to the box for hooking, and Boston immediately went on the attack.
Torey Krug hit Patrice Bergeron with a beautiful streaking pass, and the B’s center split Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic before beating Rattich with a pretty drag-snapshot. The goal was Bergeron’s 26th tally of the season.
But the Bruins center wasn’t done. Bergeron blocked a shot from Frolik to start the rush up the ice. Backes then fed Brad Marchand who launched a rocket at the net that Bergeron was able to tip home for his second goal of the game at 9:19.
Zdeno Chara added an empty-netter to seal the win for Boston.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will take the ice again Saturday when they face the Vancouver Canucks. Puck drop from Rogers Arena is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.
