Recap: Bruins defeat Flames, 3-1, in McAvoy’s return

The Boston Bruins topped the Calgary Flames, 3-1, as Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winner in his return tonight.

The Bruins remain undefeated at home, improving to 8-0-0 at the TD Garden.

Linus Ullmark made 31 saves in the win.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Flames opened the scoring at 4:43 of the first period.

Just as time expired on the power play, Noah Hanifin fired a long shot through traffic on net that traveled past Ullmark’s blocker side. 1-0 Flames.

The Bruins tied the game at 16:38 of the first period.

After receiving a pass from Tomas Nosek, Connor Clifton threw a wrist shot on net which Dan Vladar initially stopped. Clifton followed through and picked up his rebound to lift a second attempt over Vladar. 1-1 game.

Second period:

The Bruins took the lead at 18:27 of the second period.

Pavel Zacha fed a pass to Charlie McAvoy at the high slot where he put a wrist shot past Vladar’s blocker. 2-1 Bruins.

Third period:

David Pastrnak scored an empty-net goal at 19:27 of the third period to make the final score, 3-1.

Game notes:

• The Bruins continued to find a way to win tonight. It wasn’t their most dominate offensive game by far, but they also came up against a really good goaltender in Vladar.
• Both goaltenders played exceptionally well for their teams. Ullmark made some huge, timely saves throughout the game like on Dillon Dube and Mikael Backlund. Ullmark was tracking the puck well and calmly made some high danger glove saves that allowed the Bruins to find their footing in the game. Ullmark continues to remain solid in net and kept the Bruins competitive while they lost their offensive footing for parts of the game.
• The Bruins had a hard time getting going to start both the first and second periods. It took them just over eight minutes to get a shot on net each period. Overall, they were outshot by the Flames 32-28.
• It was another night defined by special teams. While the Bruins’ first power play of the game gave them some offensive momentum - and their first (second, third and fourth) shot on net, the power play wasn’t able to capitalize on any man-advantage. Head Coach Jim Montgomery continues to have five forwards on the first unit at times.
• The B’s penalty kill stopped all five tonight. They have now consecutively killed off 10 penalties in the last three games.
• Cliffy Hockey was in full force. Not only did he follow up on his rebound to net the tying goal, but he was physical. He played Calgary hard, throwing hits around.
• Nick Foligno didn’t register any points tonight, but he impacted the game. Foligno dropped the gloves with Kevin Rooney after his hit on Tomas Nosek. He helped lead the Bruins in their response to Calgary’s physicality.
• McAvoy’s TOI was 19:18 in his season debut. He netted the game-winning goal in his return and had two shots on net. He was back out there on the PK and helped limit Calgary’s chances. In the offensive zone, he was pinching in all the right spots which was also seen in his goal. He joined Brad Marchand in also scoring at least a goal in their return back to play this season from surgery recovery.
• Next up, the Bruins have back-to-back games this weekend. First, the Bruins will hit the road on Satuday, Nov. 12, to face off against the Buffalo Sabres. Then they are back home the next day as the Vancouver Canuks come to town.