Flames’ renewed swagger fuels overtime win over Bruins

CALGARY — The swagger of the end of last season is back.

So are their world-class goalkeepers.

The combination saw Calgary Flames won 2-1 over Boston on Monday to put a team many left for dead just three points out of a playoff spot.

There's still half a season left until the end of the season.

Even though they have the worst power play in the league and no one is even close to scoring points per game, the Flames are now winners of four straight games at home and eight of their last 11 games.

The McKenna Mission conversation that began with the team's 5-13-3 start has turned into yet another race to the murky middle that this franchise has lived in for decades.

As disappointing as this was for Tank's team in town, it's far from a criticism as this team deserves credit for climbing out of the epic hole they started in.

“This is what we have in this room,” said Dustin Wolfwho again became one of the stars of the game, stopping 24 shots.

“I mean, you look at last year and how everyone kicked us into the ditch and we found a way to get through and almost got through and failed. And I think the guys really want to find a way to get there. No matter how. And we're trying to put together some good games here at home, and we're doing a good job of it so far.”

And they did it the same way they did last year – with unwavering hard work and self-belief.

“I think it’s that confidence that you only get before a game,” he said. Blake Colemanwhose second goal in as many games equalized midway through the night.

“I think at the beginning of the year you don't have any bounces. Things don't go the way you want them to and you kind of step into the game and when things don't go well you're kind of like, 'Here we go again.'” If you say the right things or try to do the right things, that's how the world works.

“And now we're looking to win. We're really good at home (11-5-2). So it's just a quiet confidence that we go into the game expecting to win, and when we don't get the rebound, it doesn't bother us. We keep chugging along.”

On Monday, that poor rebound manifested itself in the form of an Andrew Peake rebound that somehow found its way through Wolf's pads late in the first.

A claim for goalkeeper interference was denied, resulting in the team scoring a penalty.

From there, it was a slog for both teams that set the stage for an overtime victory despite the Flames recording just one shot on goal in the third.

Jonathan Aspirot's high stick late in the third gave the Flames' troubled power play its fifth chance of the night, but it was somehow finished off by Zary, who had previously been out all night on the first two units.

“We've watched it a few times and I don't know,” Zari said when asked if he deserved credit for the goal as his powerful shot on the rebound may have also come from Hampus Lindholm.

“It kind of bounced. I think it just came off my foot and then bounced a little more and went into the net. We got the win and that's all that really matters.”

It was all made possible by Wolf, who stopped Pavel Zacha on an overtime breakaway that also included a brilliant stop on a rebound from Nikita Zadorov.

“Saw the first one, it started snowing on the second one, so luckily it just hit me and we got another bounce,” Wolf said.

Yes, the team that endlessly talked about how they didn't have enough pucks finally got them.

The 4 Oilers team told much the same story two days earlier.

“You know, it wasn't a pretty thing,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said after the unfortunate incident.

“It was one of those games where you have to find a way to win, and we did that. We hadn't won games like that before this season, so I think finding a way to hang on and get two points was a big thing for us. The penalty kill was good, and the struggle that our power play had to go through…we ended up scoring a goal. So that's a big thing.”