The Boston Bruins return home after a Canadian road trip with five of six possible points.
Boston was without defenseman Brandon Carlo and had to leave head coach Bruce Cassidy behind as he dealt COVID-1. Even with the stretch including a back-to-back, the Bruins won two of three games north of the border.
Boston’s fourth line made a huge difference in Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Centered by Trent Frederic, the group scored the first and final goals in a game at Scotiabank Saddledome.
“The big goal was obviously the one in the third period,” assistant coach Joe Sacco said of Frederic’s assist on Curtis Lazar’s goal 2:57 into the final frame.
“That was a good job by our line there with Freddie and Lazar. They did a really good job battling down low and getting to the net, attacking the net — things that line needs to do to be successful. So we’re happy for that line to contribute in that way tonight. They were very good. They were very good tonight. I thought they had good juice. They skated well. They just they played a solid game and you could tell that they probably hadn’t had the time previously that the other lines had, and they had a little bit more extra in their game tonight.”
Boston needed it, coming out on top in a game where Calgary owned a 42-27 advantage in shots.
“Credit to our group in the third period for responding the way they did the last two games and sticking with it and playing the way we want to play,” Sacco added.
“So, you know, it was a successful road trip; five out of six points. It wasn’t an easy trip for us, especially the travel and the back-to-back that we had. So we’re real proud of them as a staff of the players and what they did this trip.”
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Flames:
— What a day for Linus Ullmark. He stopped 40 of 42 shots, holding strong in net and allowing Boston to stay in the game where it was significantly outshot.
“Another solid outing again here tonight for us,” Sacco said after the game, via NESN’s postgame coverage. “He came up big, especially in the first two periods, again, when we were at times hemmed in our own zone a little bit too much and you know, he made the quality series when we needed it. Our goaltending has been good lately. It’s been giving us a chance to win.”
In his last five starts, Ullmark is 4-1-0 with a .941 save percentage and averaging 2.01 goals against. Strong play continues between the pipes in Boston with a potential Tuukka Rask return on the horizon. For now, the Bruins benefit from the competition.
“He seems that he’s responding well right now and he seems to be in a good place and it’s good for our hockey club.”
— Brad Marchand scored his 11th goal of the season in the second period and it’s certainly worth watching. He tipped a beauty of a snipe in from David Pastrnak, but that wasn’t it for the first line, unsurprisingly.
Patrice Bergeron had two helpers, moving up to No. 4 on the Bruins’ all-time assist leaderboard. He now has 555.
— Connor Clifton opened the scoring with his first goal of the season.
— Milan Lucic was honored by Calgary for his 1,000th career game (which he played in last season). The Flames wanted to honor the left wing in front of fans and picked a night where his former team was in town. It allowed the Bruins to deliver a nice tribute to a crucial part of their 2011 Stanley Cup champion team.
— Boston comes back to the East Coast on a high note and gets two days off before its next game. The B’s take the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. NESN will have a full hour of postgame and pregame coverage leading up to the game and after it to break things down.
