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Calgary Flames @ Boston Bruins 2/13/18 (57/82): Boston Has Only Won 23 Of Their Last 31

The Flames roll into Boston to face one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

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Calgary Flames @ Boston Bruins, 5 PM MT, TD Garden, Boston MA

The Flames 6 game road trip is grinding to an end and one of the last 2 stops finds them in Boston to take on the Bruins. The Flames have had a successful trip out East going 3-1-0 so far, but they haven’t faced a squad like the Bruins on this trip.

The Flames keep yo-yo-ing up and down in the Western Conference playoff picture, in one day and out the next. They currently hold the 6th spot in the West, but like everything in the conference, that changes each time the wind blows in a different direction.

Calgary will have to take on one of the NHL’s hottest teams without their MVP. Mike Smith went down in the Flames 3-2 win over the NY Islanders and won’t be available to the Flames tonight. David Rittich is more than capable and this is a good test for the Flames back up keeper. Rittich is 5-1-2 on the season in limited work, but he looks more than comfortable when he gets the start. How comfortable he’ll be tonight will be interesting to see because the Bruins aren’t making it easy on ANYONE lately.

How good have the Bruins been? 23-4-4. That’s their record since December 2nd. That doesn’t even seem possible. On December 14th the B’s lost to the Washington Capitals 5-3. That game set in motion an 18 game streak where they collected at least a point and that streak also contained a 5 game winning streak and two 4 game winning streaks. To compound things for the rest of the NHL, Tukkaa Rask has been almost unbeatable. He’s 18-1-2 in his last 21 games and the most goals he’s given up was 5 in a 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Boston hasn’t been the most welcoming of towns to the Flames over the years. The Flames are 3-7-0 in their last 10 visits and in the middle of that 10 game sample they didn’t score a goal in 3 straight visits, including a 9-0 beat down in 2012 (I was there, I still have night sweats over this game).

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Boston Bruins Coverage: Stanley Cup Of Chowder

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 3 NY Islanders 2

The Flames found themselves in a 2-0 hole Sunday night, but dug themselves out and won their 3rd game in 4 tries. Matthew Tkachuk owned the Isles in the 3rd period, getting the game tying and GWG to lift the Flames to a 3-2 win over NY. Here’s our recap and the highlights from NHL.com

Boston Bruins 5 NJ Devils 3

The Bruins continued to roll on as they dispatched the NJ Devils 5-3 Sunday night. The win was Boston’s 10th in 12 tries. Torey Krug paced the Bruins offence with 2 goals and Anton Khudobin stopped 35 of the 38 shots that came his way to earn the victory. Stanley Cup Of Chowder has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Calgary Flames

Johnny Gaudreau (F). Gaudreau comes back to where he played his college hockey Tuesday night and he’s playing some of his best hockey of the season. Gaudreau has 8 points in his last 5 games giving him 66 on the season. He’s fared well in his young career against the Bruins with 7 points in 5 games.

Boston Bruins

Torey Krug (D). Krug has been piling up the points lately with 6 in his last 5. Two of those came against the Devils in the Bruins 5-3 by way of goals. He’s been strong on the power play as well with 3 goals and 8 assists on the season.

by Mark Parkinson