Wednesday night, an avid match took place between Bulls and Hawks. The result of a series was a tie with a score of 1-1. In the last five minutes, the Bulls implemented their signature traits – defense and rebounding and got out a 86-73 victory in Game 2. Rose and Noah are the names, who lead this series to tie.

There was the frigid game time temperature of -8.6 degrees Celsius, which was even colder when factoring in the wind chill and which fell throughout the game. There was the ice, which was causing pucks to bounce more often than they would in the comfy confines of the Scotiabank Saddledome.

None of that mattered to the Flames, who didn’t let any of those obstacles stand in their way as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in front of 41,022 fans who braved the elements for the historic game. The Flames have scrapped their way back into the playoff race thanks to their sensational 17-4-5 stretch since Dec. 23. They are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games and vaulted from 10th to sixth in the Western Conference with Sunday’s win.

The players will never forget the pageantry and spectacle of playing in an outdoor game — the massive number of fans, the pregame affair that included a flyover and ceremonial puck drop featuring legends Bob Gainey of the Canadiens and Lanny McDonald of the Flames. But at the end of the day, the two points might be what the players cherish most. The Flames have been getting contributions from just about everyone in their lineup the past two months, and it was more of the same Sunday.

Rene Bourque, who had just 4 goals in his past 28 games, scored twice. Anton Babchuk’s shorthanded goal midway through the second period was only his sixth in 44 games with the Flames. Alex Tanguay has been a consistent contributor all season, but his 16th goal of the season during a third-period power play was merely icing on the cake. Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was the undisputed first star of the game, making an outdoor game record 39 saves to become the first goalie to earn a shutout in either the Heritage or Winter Classic.

Bourque will be remembered as the most dominant skater on either team. Beyond his two goals, he had a career-high and outdoor game record 11 shots, shattering the previous record of 7 held by Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang. After Babchuk ripped a one-timer past Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (33 saves) midway through the second period, Bourque struck for a beauty of a goal 2:02 later when he controlled a bouncing puck and beat Price 1-on-1 with a quick backhand shot to put the Flames up 3-0.

Kiprusoff was at his best in the second period when the Flames blew the game open. He made 21 saves, the most ever in one period during an outdoor game. For some players like Flames forward Brendan Morrison, who grew up in British Columbia and only played in a handful of outdoor games as a child, Sunday’s chilly experience was a true rarity.

The Canadiens have now lost six of seven (1-4-2) but aren’t in any danger of slipping out of the top 8 in the Eastern Conference anytime soon. They are in sixth place and hold a nine-point lead on the ninth-place Buffalo Sabres. For the Flames, it was the best of all worlds. Two points, one special experience, and no problem playing on a mammoth stage with the eyes of Canada upon them.