BOSTON — It certainly wasn’t pretty at times, but the Bruins pulled off an overtime victory against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
The Bruins and Flames traded goals in the opening period, but then Boston scored twice in the second frame to take a 3-1 lead into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Calgary didn’t fold. They pushed back with two goals of their own in the third period to force overtime. The Black and Gold were determined to not lose the extra point and Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left of three-on-three play.
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“We stuck with it,” Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm said. “Obviously, we don’t want to give up a 3-1 lead in the third, but we found a way to win a hockey game and that’s hard in this league. So, I’ll try to focus on the positives here.”
Lindholm opened the scoring for the Bruins with a first-period strike from newly reunited Czech mates David Pastrnark and Pavel Zacha.
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“I feel really good about my game,” Lindholm said. “It’s nice to get put out there in situations to succeed and it makes it fun for me. Feel that reward and obviously, get a goal, is always a good feeling.”
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Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery praised Lindholm not only for the goal but also for his overall performance in the game.
“I thought Hampus was really skating. I thought he was on his toes tonight,” Montgomery said. “The really good thing, when Hampus is playing really well, and that goal is a perfect example, is he’s moving his feet in the neutral zone, he’s moving it north, and he’s jumping into the offensive zone to support the play. That way it’s easier for the defensemen to be uncovered.”
Not only did Pastrnak and Zacha connect on the Lindholm goal, but the duo also helped generate some of the Bruins’ best scoring chances and Zacha scored his first five-on-five goal of the season.
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“They played really well,” Montgomery said. “I thought that line was our best offensive line.”
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Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Flames game:
— Marchand now has 21 overtime goals in his career, which is the most in franchise history and third-most among all NHL players behind Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. The game-winner was the 79th of his career and ranks him third in Bruins history, trailing only Johnny Bucyk (88) and Patrice Bergeron (81).
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— Zacha’s second goal of the season was his 300th NHL point. He joined linemate Pastrnak, Tomas Hertl and Ondrej Palat as the fourth active player born in Czechia with 300 points.
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— Cole Koepke joined Charlie Coyle and Matt Poitras on the third line and tallied his fourth goal of the season to extend the Bruins lead to 3-1 in the third period. Coyle earned his first assist of the season when he set up Koepke’s tally.
“As long as I’m playing the right way and creating opportunities, getting opportunities, that’s what I worry about. … I’m not really too worried about individual stuff,” Coyle said. “I want to play the right way for my team, make sure I’m on the right side of the puck, and pick my spots when to go and find that balance too.”
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— The Bruins will look to build on the overtime win when they host former teammate Linus Ullmark and the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The matchup could feature Boston’s former formidable goalie tandem — Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman — facing each other for the first time since the former was traded to the Senators in the offseason, or Ullmark could possibly face the goalie the Bruins received in the trade — Korpisalo.
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Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pre- and postgame coverage on NESN.
BOSTON – Holiday travel is in full swing with Christmas just days away and travelers at Logan Airport in Boston spent the day dealing with delays from snowy weather.
Delays nationwide
There was gridlock traffic at Logan as travelers embark on their holiday excursions. Donna Ragucci just flew into New England from Florida.
“I am so excited, I get to see my sister and we are going on the trolley today and North End,” Ragucci said.
AAA said snowy weather conditions on Friday led to delays, spinouts and disruptions with flights.
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“Overall, we’ve seen a pretty strong volume, which is what we forecasted, a record number of people traveling this year,” said AAA Northeast spokesperson Mark Schieldrop. “There was a storm system that affected a good swath of the country, so Chicago and Boston are two major hub airports, so anytime you have delays or cancellations in one part of the country, we often see a little bit of a domino effect.”
Kevin Walker said this is his first and last time traveling for the holidays.
“Well, we got here yesterday morning and our flight was canceled right when we got here,” said Walker.
AAA said more than 119 million people will travel during from now and Jan. 2. While most flights are on time at Logan there are several delays and cancellations leading to holiday angst.
“Hasn’t been great, my first flight was cancelled and now I guess I didn’t make the cut off for this flight, so now they can’t check the bag but yeah, it’s alright. I got a JetBlue flight tomorrow,” traveler Abbey Reynolds said.
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“It’s different because I’m driving this year, so we got the dog coming with us, so I just hope the flight goes OK for the two kiddos and we meet them on the other end,” said a Brookline man heading to North Carolina with his family.
Coping with travel stress
Paul Pierre is heading back to Columbus, Ohio and has his own philosophy when it comes to traveling.
“Don’t let the small stuff upset you. You just go through the airport and you do your best and be kind and you’ll get through it,” Pierre said.
“I’m a therapist, so I practice meditation, go to the gym,” said Ragucci.
“It is what it is, like, I’m not going to get that bent out of shape over it,” said Reynolds.
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Paul Burton
Paul Burton is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV News.
Boston Celtics (22-6, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Orlando Magic (18-12, fourth in the Eastern Conference)
Orlando, Florida; Monday, 7 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Boston visits the Orlando Magic after Jayson Tatum scored 43 points in the Celtics’ 123-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
The Magic are 14-7 against Eastern Conference opponents. Orlando is fifth in the Eastern Conference with 10.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Goga Bitadze averaging 2.9.
The Celtics are 20-4 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston ranks sixth in the Eastern Conference with 10.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Luke Kornet averaging 2.0.
The Magic are shooting 45.2% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points lower than the 45.7% the Celtics allow to opponents. The Celtics are shooting 45.7% from the field, 0.6% lower than the 46.3% the Magic’s opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Franz Wagner is averaging 24.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals for the Magic.
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Tatum is averaging 28.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists for the Celtics.
LAST 10 GAMES: Magic: 5-5, averaging 106.4 points, 42.0 rebounds, 22.3 assists, 9.4 steals and 7.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.0 points per game.
Celtics: 7-3, averaging 118.5 points, 49.7 rebounds, 25.7 assists, 7.5 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.7 points.
INJURIES: Magic: Paolo Banchero: out (oblique), Franz Wagner: out (oblique), Jalen Suggs: day to day (ankle), Gary Harris: day to day (hamstring), Moritz Wagner: day to day (knee).
Celtics: Sam Hauser: day to day (back).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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