In Boston, David Rittich made 26 saves and the Calgary Flames burned the Bruins, 5-2, on Tuesday night.
Mikael Backlund struck twice for the Flames and had three points on the night.
David Rittich got the win for the Flames – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“This shows not just ourselves, the whole League, that we’re a really solid team,” Backlund said. “And we’ve known that all year. It’s been a lot of ups and downs … we know we have to be more consistent. But when we play the right way, we’re really, really a dangerous group.”
Chris Wagner and Brad Marchand (shorthanded) scored for Boston.
“Clearly not good enough,” coach Bruce Cassidy said about the Bruins’ effort level. “I thought some guys came to play and some guys didn’t. Didn’t break a sweat, some of them it looked like. I’m sure there was effort, they were trying, they were just in between, couldn’t execute or whatever. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t good enough.”
Matthew Tkachuk staked Calgary to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.
“I thought it was an excellent effort by our guys,” Flames coach Geoff Ward said. “Played with an awful lot of composure. This is a hard building to play in, but I thought we came in and we did a really good job in terms of staying focused, we did a really good job of being emotionally attached to the game but being out of control emotionally. I thought we did a real good job in our end, kept pucks moving forward. All in all, it was a real good effort by our team.”
Sean Monahan also potted two goals for the Flames.
“I liked them (newly acquired defensemen Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson). It takes a little while obviously for them to get used to not only each other but to their new teammates, systems and stuff,” Ward said. “But I thought they played well. I like the fact that they got better as the game went on. I think both guys played to their strengths.”
[WATCH: All Flames vs. Bruins highlights]
Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in the loss and saw his home point streak stopped at 20.
“I mean the second period wasn’t really our strongest,” Rask said. “I think the third we picked it up and played with our pace and structure, got some chances.”
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