Charlie McAvoy returned to the Boston Bruins lineup for the first time in the 2022-23 season, and scored the game winning goal in a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames at TD Garden on Thursday night.
Calgary (5-6-2) would score first, as Noah Hanifin tallied at 4:43 of the opening period for a 1-0 lead. Boston tied it at the 16:38 mark. David Pastrnak kept the puck alive behind the Flames net, and eventually got it to Connor Clifton who had first shot blocked in the high slot but got his own rebound and slammed it into the cage past Dan Vladar. McAvoy would score the game winner at 18:27 of the second period, finding the net on a shot through traffic from just outside the high slot. Pastrnak added an empty netter in the third, as the Bruins improved their NHL best record to 12-2 (8-0 at home).
Pastrnak had a goal and an assist to lead the way, while Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots in net. Vladar made 25 stops in the loss for Calgary, as the Flames went 0-6 on the powerplay on the night. Boston travels to Buffalo to battle the Sabres on Saturday night.
