Post-Game: Zdeno’s World

 

 

Via the NHL

Tonight’s Flames-Bruins rematch in Boston went exactly the way you thought it would – the Flames lost to a vastly superior opponent again for the second time in a week, falling 2-0 in Beantown.

The Flames actually kept pace pretty well in the first, matching the Fenwick and Corsi attempts of the Bruins for long streches of time. The amount of action overall was little, though, with shots being 10-9 for the Bruins, all at even strength. Both Rask and Berra made a couple of nice saves, but ultimately neither gave any ground.

Great work, boys. Via imgur.

The second period was a little bit more eventful, though, as the Bruins would break through a little less than midway through the period while on the PP. Zdeno Chara knocked home a David Krejci shot while in front of the net to give the Bruins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Bruins would take control of the game from here on out, though, and by the end of the second they would have a 15-shot attempt lead on the Flames. 

The dominance continued in the third, with the Bruins extending their lead less than two minutes into the period off of another Chara PP goal – his 9th of the season. It was basically a carbon copy of his previous goal, with our old friend Jarome Iginla dishing it off to Krejci before Chara scored again on the rebound. Even though the Bruins were up by 2 goals for 18 minutes, they still matched the Flames attempt-for-attempt throughout the period. The Flames were simply outclassed tonight by a better team.

Zdeno Chara is one of the greatest defenseman of this generation and he had a damn fine game tonight. His Corsi% tonight was just shy of 80 and he scored both of his team’s goals. Chara’s ability to shut players down is astounding: 

The Flames fell victim to him, the depth of the Bruins’ offense and one Mr. Tuukka Rask tonight.

Mikael Backlund had another great game tonight, going 50% in Corsi despite starting in the defensive zone 55% of the time. He led Flames forwards in ice time as well, with 21 minutes. 

The Bruins are one of the best tems in the league. The Flames are not. Thus, this loss is not unexpected. Surprisingly, this is only the first time the Flames have been shut out the entire year.

The Flames play next on Thursday versus Detroit. Game time is 530PM.