Hot take: the Boston Bruins will be able to handle Dougie Hamilton’s center-ice goal (though Anton Khudobin likely will remain grumbling).
The Bruins rendered that gaffe fairly irrelevant on Wednesday as their big guns doused the Calgary Flames’ winning streak at 10 games by a decisive score of 5-2.
Brad Marchand also passed Sidney Crosby and the rest of the field in the Maurice Richard Trophy race, scoring his 36th goal of 2016-17:
Marchand added an assist as big names such as David Pastrnak (two goals) and David Backes (one goal) enjoyed strong nights in their own right. Backes’ goal was an especially promising sign, as he recovered from this injury scare:
Wednesday’s two points ties Marchand for the Art Ross lead at 76 points ... it’s all very impressive stuff for a guy who’s clearly surpassed his “pest” label. (Not to say that he can’t still get under opponents’ skin, mind you.)
Wins like these remind us that the Bruins have been almost as hot as the Flames. Maybe most importantly, Boston seems increasingly above the wild card fray out East.
So, yeah, that Hamilton goal probably doesn’t mean much more than a blooper reel appearance and made some gentle film-room ribbing for Khudobin.