FLAMES EDGED IN OT

David Rittich got the bounce-back performance he was looking for, earning his team a single point as the Flames fell 2-1 in overtime to the Boston Bruins on Monday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Rittich finished with 30 saves to keep his team within striking distance despite being outshot 23-12 through the first two periods.
"Every game is different and if you have a bad game you should come back with a clear head and looking forward," said Rittich. "It's a really good point for us, but I think we could have both. What happened happened in overtime, but I think we played well."

Brad Marchand scored the overtime winner on a breakaway with 1:24 left in the extra frame to seal it for the visitors.
Both teams had near-misses in the early going, as Matthew Tkachuk came down the wing and rang it off the near side post in the opening minute before Jake DeBrusk failed to connect on the puck as it slid through the slot in front of an open cage less than two minutes later.
Boston took a 1-0 lead after David Pastrnak won a puck battle along the boards and fired it short side past the blocker of Rittich for his 22nd of the season near the six-minute mark of the first frame.
Despite allowing the tally from Pastrnak, Rittch kept the Flames in the game through the opening 20 minutes. The 25-year-old netminder stopped 12 shots, including a pair in tight from David Krejci on a Bruins powerplay, as the visitors outshot the Flames 13-4 in the first period.
"Huge bounce-back for Rittich. That team's a hard team to beat," said head coach Glen Gulutzan. You look across the league, not many teams are beating them and you can't really beat them without goaltending. We got it tonight, he gave us a chance. We got great goaltending."

Tkachuk tied the game on the powerplay for with his 22nd of the season, potting the rebound after Tuukka Rask made a pad save on Sean Monahan five-and-a-half minutes into the second stanza.

It was the Flames fifth powerplay goal in three games and seventh in their last six.
"Our powerplay, a lot of that is about confidence," said Gulutzan. "We scored twice [last game], we scored twice a couple games back, so you start feeling it a little bit and things start going."
The Bruins nearly retook the lead just over a minute later when Marchand tipped a puck out of the air towards the Flames net, but Rittich got over to deny Boston's point leader with the glove.
One of Rittich's best saves of the night came with just over three minutes left in the second frame. After a stretch pass sent Ryan Spooner in alone behind the Flames defence, Rittich flashed the leather to stymie the breakaway opportunity and keep the game tied, earning a roar of approval from the home fans in the process.
"It was just a regular breakaway," said Rittich. I just wanted to save it and I did."

Sam Bennett nearly gave the Flames their first lead of the game with under two minutes gone in the third, but rang his wrist shot from the slot off the post.
With the game tied near the 14-minute mark of the third period Rittch made another breakaway stop, getting across to deny Pastrnak his second of the night with a spectacular toe save.

ONE-TIMERS:

Travis Hamonic logged 22:45 in his 500th regular-season game … Calgary native Morgan Klimchuk played 7:25 in his NHL debut … The Flames allowed the first goal of the contest for the sixth straight game … The Flames fall to 12-10-4 against Eastern Conference teams this season … The Bruins won both games of the season series after a 5-2 win in Boston on Feb. 13.

UP NEXT:

The Flames head to the desert for back-to-back games in Vegas and Arizona. The Flames will face the Golden Knights in their second meeting of the season on Wednesday night (8:30 p.m. MT, TV: Sportsnet Flames, RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN) before clashing with the Coyotes on Thursday (7 p.m. MT, TV: Sportsnet West, RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN).