By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com
CALGARYIf there was a perfect way for the Bruins to kick off this nine-day odyssey through the Great White North, they nailed it.Tim Thomas gave the Bs brilliant goaltending after a week of rest, the Bs got one goal apiece from lineup linchpins Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand and the defense held down a torrid Flames attack in a wrinkle-free 3-1 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome.Tuesday nights loss was only the third time in 21 games that the Flames have been left pointless at the end of regulation.The Flames got a little life when Curtis Glencross scored a power-play goal late in the third period, but thats as close as they would get. Lucic added his fifth empty-net goal of the season to ice things for the Bruins.The Bruins sucked the life out of building early in the first when their top line combined for a nifty goal. Adam McQuaid made a heads up play from the neutral zone to David Krejci, and the Bs center used a great shot fake to feed Lucic on the backdoor for his 25th goal of the season.The Krejci assist was his ninth point in the last seven games, and has quieted some of the critics that said Krejci was floating through a portion of the season.Thomas made 22 saves through the first two periods to protect the slim one-goal leadsome of them workmanlike and some of them praiseworthy against Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguayand the Bs got their insurance offense in the third.Patrice Bergeron fired a shot from the left side of the offensive end that Miikka Kiprusoff kicked to his right side, and Brad Marchand was in the exact right spot to fire it back for his 19th goal of the season.Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs