Daniel Vladar’s Flames put an end to B’s win streak with 4-0 final
Down by two goals in the third period, the Bruins were given a golden opportunity to ignite a potential third-period comeback when the Flames’ Juuso Valimaki was whistle for a hold on Curtis Lazar.
But instead of slicing their deficit in half, the Bruins’ top power-play unit surrendered a 2-on-0 and allowed the Flames four cracks on Jeremy Swayman. A fourth try was more than enough for Andrew Mangiapane, who beat a down-and-out Swayman and by all means put the Bruins to bed in a 4-0 loss at TD Garden on Sunday night.
Giving up 4 straight looks while on a power play? Not good: pic.twitter.com/DDtGowyPyA
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) November 22, 2021
“We got outworked,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the loss. “That top group was stubborn tonight. Very stubborn in their approach.”
And not that they needed it given the gut-punch feel of that third goal, but the Flames added a fourth goal just 1:08 after the Mangiapane goal with a Mikael Backlund shot that squeaked under Swayman and over the goal line.
The performance was actually a Garden-worst for the 22-year-old Swayman, who surrendered more than two goals on home ice for the first time in his career. The first two goals surrendered by Swayman both came off rebounds, scored by Johnny Gaudreau at the 1:29 mark of the first period and Noah Hanifin late in the second period of action.
The hometown boy strikes! pic.twitter.com/eFBac0JZdF
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) November 22, 2021
At the other end of the rink, it was a successful ‘revenge’ game for ex-Bruins netminder Daniel Vladar by way of a 27-save shutout for his fourth victory of the campaign. Vladar, who was shipped to Calgary for a 2022 third-round pick following Boston’s signing of Linus Ullmark to a four-year, $20 million deal, was strong when he needed to be and refused to let the Bruins cash in on any of their rebound opportunities or power-play chances.
The Bruins will get back at it Wednesday night in Buffalo.
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.