TUESDAY
Calgary Flames (32-25-6) at Boston Bruins (39-12-12)
5 p.m. MT, TD Garden, Sportsnet/Sportsnet 960 The Fan
THE BIG MATCHUP
Bruins RW David Pastrnak vs. Flames G David Rittich
Pastrnak is the current frontrunner to have his name engraved on the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading marksman. The 23-year-old sharpshooter was a bright spot for the Bruins, as they were steamrolled in Vancouver, scoring twice more to boost his total to 45 snipes so far this season. Auston Matthews (43) and Alex Ovechkin (42) are the closest chaps in his rearview mirror. ‘Pasta’ is too much for just one guy to chew on, but Rittich will be anxious to keep his fellow Czech countryman off the scoresheet. The 27-year-old netminder has superb road splits and made some crucial saves — the best of them with his blocker — to preserve Sunday’s win over the host Detroit Red Wings.
FIVE STORYLINES FOR THE GAME
DEFENSIVE REINFORCEMENTS
The Flames bolstered their blue-line at Monday’s trade deadline , adding Erik Gustafsson and Derek Forbort — both left-handers — in exchange for draft picks. Both should be on the ice for Tuesday’s morning skate at TD Garden. The big question is, could the Flames also be welcoming back their No. 1 defenceman against the Bruins? Their captain, Mark Giordano, has missed nine straight games due to a hamstring injury but is once again practicing with his pals. “For us, we need to know it’s good before we put him in a game,” stressed Flames coach Geoff Ward. “Because the last thing we want to have happen is him pull it and done.”
YOU GUYS, AGAIN?!?
These squads meet only twice each season, and both hook-ups happen to be squished into a five-day window this winter. The Flames stormed to an early lead in Friday’s clash at the Saddledome, setting a franchise record with three tallies in the opening 3:23, but it was tied by the first intermission and the Bruins completed the comeback with a 4-3 victory . Boston’s so-called ‘Perfection Line’ accounted for three goals and six points, with Patrice Bergeron potting a pair and Brad Marchand burying the winner.
SO FAR, SO GOOD
The Flames started their five-game getaway on a positive note, hanging on for Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the cellar-dwelling Red Wings . The top-line tandem of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan got the ball rolling in Motor City, and Andrew Mangiapane notched both the game-winner and a late empty-netter. The Flames, now with an 18-13-2 record in their road whites, will also pit-stop in Nashville, Tampa and Sunrise, Fla., before heading home.
EMBARRASSED B’S
Bad news, Flames fans … the Bruins should still be in an ornery mood after Saturday’s 9-3 shellacking from the Vancouver Canucks, their most lopsided loss — they haven’t suffered a lot of losses, period — of this season. That marked the end of a five-game winning spree for the B’s. “You’re going to have games like this, so I’m not going to lose sleep over this hockey game,” insisted Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “We’re not going to beat ourselves up over this loss.”
THIS N’ THAT
Flames second-liner Andrew Mangiapane was named the NHL’s third star of the week after piling up five goals in a three-game stretch … The Bruins landed forwards Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie in separate swaps with the Anaheim Ducks. While Kase was acquired Friday, his debut has been delayed by injury … The Flames traded away defenceman Brandon Davidson and reassigned right-winger Buddy Robinson and blue-liner Alexander Yelesin to the AHL’s Stockton Heat.
FLAMES LINEUP
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Elias Lindholm
Andrew Mangiapane – Mikael Backlund – Matthew Tkachuk
Milan Lucic – Sam Bennett – Dillon Dube
Tobias Rieder – Mark Jankowski – Derek Ryan
Defence
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
TJ Brodie – Michael Stone
Oliver Kylington – Erik Gustafsson
Goaltenders
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
BRUINS LINEUP
Forwards
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Nick Ritchie
Anders Bjork – Charlie Coyle – Karson Kuhlman
Anton Blidh – Sean Kuraly – Chris Wagner
Defence
Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Jeremy Lauzon
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
INJURIES
Flames — D Mark Giordano (hamstring), D Travis Hamonic (upper body), D Juuso Valimaki (knee)
Bruins — RW Ondrej Kase (illness)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power play (prior to Monday’s action)
Flames: 19.9% (36-for-181, 18th)
Bruins: 25.2% (52-for-206, 2nd)
Penalty kill (prior to Monday’s action)
Flames: 82.3% (8th)
Bruins: 84.0% (3rd)
Twitter: @WesGilbertson
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