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Did I catch a niner in there? B's crush Flames, 9-0

January 5, 2012, 11:23 PM ET [ Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I'm not sure if I've ever seen a player finish with a minus-7 rating in one game in my life. I'm not sure if that's a testament to how bad Chris Butler and the Calgary Flames were tonight or how dominant the Boston Bruins have become. Fresh off a six-goal outing against the Devils last night, the Bruins outdid themselves tonight, this time with a nine spot.

But, somehow, these routs have become business as usual for these Bruins.

In a game that seemed over and done with when the B's scored two goals in the opening three and a half minutes of play, a third goal to close out the first frame, a second period onslaught led to an immense seven-goal output through the opening two periods.

Ultimately adding an eighth and ninth in the third, a new season high for a Bruins club that scored eight in their last home game back on Dec. 23, the Bruins in a word? Relentless.

"We don’t want to stop what we’re doing. I think even if you get a big lead we’ve got to keep pounding on it and keep doing what we’re doing," Boston forward Benoit Pouliot said following the victory. "We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing and then bring this into Saturday. That’s our mentality and that’s fine, I think everyone likes that and we’ll keep playing that way."

Extending the Flames' misery to five straight losses, it was a performance that saw Boston get contributions up and down their line-up, even with the loss of key winger Brad Marchand (flu-like symptoms).

"That says it all," Pouliot said when asked about responding with nine goals without Marchand. "We’ve got depth and we back each other up when we’re missing one of our best players. Some guys needed to step up, and our goalies have been playing awesome all year long."

Certainly the most underplayed story of the night, keeping the Flames off the scoreboard all night long with a 25-save performance, Tuukka Rask's third shutout of the year did nothing but continue to pad the numbers of the 24-year-old. Bumping his goals-against-average down to a 1.49 and his save-percentage up to a machine-esque .948 save-percentage.

And for the Flames, who saw their goaltending tandem of rookie Leland Irving and veteran Miikka Kiprusoff get tuned up at will, the sting is there. "It sucks tonight," Calgary d-man Jay Bouwmeester, who finished with a minus-5 on the night, said. "It sucks tomorrow, probably."

Sentiments echoed by captain Jarome Iginla, who's still in search of goal No. 500 after a frustrating night.

"It was embarrassing," the 34-year-old Calgary captain said. "We got totally outworked and outcompeted. We didn’t move, we got pushed off of pretty much every puck all night, gave them free access down the slot on our goalies how many times? We were terrible tonight."

By the numbers

8 - Bruins that finished tonight's game with multi-point efforts. Overall, the Bruins had 12 skaters finish with at least one point in the win.

17 to 0 - The Bruins' last two home games. Reaching back to their last four contests on Garden ice, the Bruins have outscored their opponents 23 to 2.

11-0-0 - Boston's record this year when Chris Kelly scores a goal.

.992 - Tuukka Rask's save percentage in the last 281 minutes of play. The Bruins' Finnish Flash has stopped 128 of the last 129 shots faced. Otherworldly.

Almost 18 years - How long it's been since a player finished with a minus-7 or worse. Butler took the cake tonight, the first time anyone's done it since Doug Wilson did it with the Sharks in a 13-1 loss to the Flames back in '93.

Ty's Take: The Bruins got depth, man.

There's something that can be said about a team that's able to plug in holes at any position and not notice a lapse in their play. And as the wins have piled up with guys varying from Zdeno Chara to Brad Marchand missing time, it's clear: These Bruins are deep. On display tonight with Marchand at home with the flu, the Bruins plugged Benoit Pouliot into his spot on the second line and sure enough, Pouliot had his first three-point game in many, many moons.

Hell, even their goaltenders are playing on a superhuman level right now. It's simply becoming harder to find a team that they compare to.

Up next

Yeah, no avoiding this one. On what would be a normally tame Saturday matinee, it's the return of the Vancouver Canucks. Making their first trip to Boston since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, and first game against the B's since Game 7, it's the rematch that's "not just another game" no matter how much the Bruins say so. Get ready for the show.

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