Lucic nets two as Bruins defeat Flames
Posted February 23, 2011 1:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY — Milan Lucic scored twice and Tim Thomas made 28 saves Tuesday as the Boston Bruins cooled off the Calgary Flames with a 3-1 victory.
Brad Marchand had the other goal for the Bruins, while Curtis Gelcross replied for the Flames.
Marchand made it 2-0 for Boston at 5:55 of the third period. Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff kicked out Patrice Bergeron’s shot from the wing straight to Marchand, who buried his 19th goal into the open net.
After Curtis Glencross broke Thomas’ shutout bid at 17:27 off a nice pass from Jarome Iginla on a power play, Lucic clinched the game into an empty net in the final minute.
Thomas was playing for the first time in a week after getting a two-game rest from Bruins coach Claude Julien. The 36-year-old netminder came into the contest having lost consecutive games for the first time on the season, giving up eight goals.
Against the surging Flames, who entered the game a sizzling 11-1-2 in their past 14, Thomas was back in the form that has him ranked No. 1 in the league in goals-against-average (2.02) and save percentage (.938).
Boston (34-19-7) opened the scoring less than a minute into the game on a pretty setup from David Krejci.
Skating down the wing, Krejci faked a slapshot and sent a hard pass across the slot to Lucic, who neatly steered his 25th goal behind Kiprusoff before bowling over the Flames goaltender.
Thomas was the busiest of the two netminders in the first period, turning aside numerous Flames chances, but his best stops came in the third.
With the Bruins still up 1-0 two minutes into the final period, Thomas slid across to deny Iginla after the Flames captain and Alex Tanguay worked a perfect give-and-go in the slot.
Later in the period, Thomas threw out an arm to get a piece of Cory Sarich’s point shot that then went off the post.
Thomas also got some help from his defence. Tanguay was about to shoot on a second-period breakaway when he had his stick neatly lifted from behind by the long reach of defenceman Zdeno Chara.
Calgary (31-23-8) lost in regulation at home for the first time in 10 games (7-1-2). With 70 points, the Flames remain in a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but are just two points up on a pack of teams at 68 points.
Glencross extends his points streak to eight games (seven goals, five assists). Kiprusoff finished with 26 saves.
The Northeast Division-leading Bruins pulled into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with the idle Tampa Bay Lightning.
Boston, the NHL’s third best road team, is a perfect 3-0 halfway through its season-high six-game roadtrip. The Bruins are not back in action until Saturday night when they play the Vancouver Canucks.
Notes: Rich Peverley made his Bruins debut, playing on a line with Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder. … Calgary G Henrik Karlsson has played just seven minutes since Jan. 21. The 27-year-old Swede has won his last two starts. … Boston’s last road win against the Flames was Oct. 18, 1997. They were 0-4-1 in their previous five visits to the Scotiabank Saddledome. … In games in which Boston takes a 2-0 lead, they are 19-0-1. … The Bruins are 33-4-4 when in games in which they take the lead.
