CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Charlie McAvoy scored at 4:55 of overtime to give the Boston a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, extending the Bruins' winning streak to eight games.
Dmitry Orlov had two goals and an assist for Atlantic Division-, Eastern Conference-, and NHL-leading Boston, and Pavel Zacha also scored. Linus Ullmark stopped 54 of the 57 shots he faced.
It was another stellar night for Ullmark, who is the league leader in wins, goals-against average and save percentage. He is 31-4-1 on the season. It was also a career high in saves for Ullmark, whose previous best was 44, accomplished twice.
Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Calgary. Dan Vladar, who allowed two goals on five shots in the first period, was lifted in favor of Jacob Markstrom at the start of the second period. Markstrom made 13 saves.
The Flames are five points back of the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers, who are tied for the two wild-card spots in the Western Conference
The Flames overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit and led 3-2 in the third period until Zacha scored a power-play goal at 14:07 to tie the game.
On the overtime winner, McAvoy was able to deflect in Patrice Bergeron’s pass just as the game appeared to be headed to a shootout.
After relinquishing the 2-1 lead that the Bruins took into the third period, the Boston got it back to even at 14:07 on a power-play goal.
Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov stepped up to lay a hit on Jake DeBrusk as he crossed the blue line with the puck, but the collision also took out teammate Andrew Mangiapane. With two Flames down on the ice, Orlov grabbed the loose puck and set up Zacha for an open net.
After trailing most of the night, Dube tied it at 2 at 8:16 of the third when he took Tyler Toffoli’s pass and put a shot inside the far post.
Less than 90 seconds later, the Flames took their first lead when Huberdeau’s attempted pass to Jakob Pelletier deflected in off a Bruins’ skate.
The Bruins are the NHL’s No. 1 team with a 13-point cushion over the Carolina Hurricanes in the overall standings. Boston had not generated fewer than 21 shots in a game or allowed more than 41 shots against — both of those marks fell with the Flames outshooting the Boston 57-20.
Down 2-0 after the first period despite holding a 19-5 edge in shots, the Flames kept up the pressure in the second, finally breaking through on Coleman’s goal at 1:07.
After that, it was all Ullmark.
Orlov scored his first goal as a Bruin at 4:47 when he took a pass from his defensive partner Hamphus Lindholm and wove through the neutral zone and over the Flames’ blue line, beating Vladar blocker side on a rising shot from 40 feet.
Shortly after, Huberdeau got in alone but was robbed by Ullmark. Boston responded to make it 2-0 with Orlov scoring again, this time off a setup from DeBrusk.
WESTERN DOMINATION
The Bruins improved to 21-2-2 against the Western Conference. Included is an 11-1-2 mark against the Pacific Division.
MILESTONE NIGHT
Flames center Nazem Kadri played in his 800th career game, while Coleman scored his 100th career goal.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Flames: Host Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
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The Associated Press
