"We lost every race, we lost every battle," said Julien, enumerating his team's second-period sins. "Usually, those things are our strong suit, but we let them get the best of us."
After opening with confidence and a bit of a shooting flurry, the Bruins connected in the first period when Patrice Bergeron stripped goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff of the puck behind the net and curled a forehander into an empty net upon reaching the left post. The Bruins were ahead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and they also held a 5-0 shot advantage. Talk about greedy. The sellout crowd of 19,289, known here as the "C of Red," sat in stunned silence.
"I wasn't surprised to see him back there," said Bergeron, noting Kiprusoff's costly flight of fancy out of the crease. "I guess he was looking to make a quick move with it. But I got it and at first I was looking to make a pass. But then I figured, I'll just take it to the net."
In very short order, perhaps falsely believing one goal will win all games, the Bruins dropped their competitive level (downshift, activate cruise control) and ended up gifting the Flames the 2 points in the standings. Dion Phaneuf ended Tim Thomas's shutout streak at 145 minutes 47 seonds on the trip (154:43 overall) when he rushed to the top of the crease and tipped Jarome Iginla's centering pass off the right wing at 2:29. Tied, 1-1, on the power play.
"I thought he was going to make a pass to the back door, and I was guarding against that," said Thomas. "I kind of got caught in the middle on that one."
With 1:23 left in the middle period, the Bruins yet to stir from their slumber, Mike Cammalleri was one of many Flames crowding the slot when Phaneuf fired again on a power play. Cammalleri made the tip and the Bruins trailed for the first time since leaving Boston for their Western Canada sojourn.
"I saw the shot go off, and it was headed for my head," said Thomas. "Then it banged on Bergy's glove and went by me. I saw the first part of that, but the rest of that information I'm giving you off the replay."
Boston woke up in the third, after a briefing by a peeved coaching staff between periods.
