BOSTON (AP) — Sean Kuraly had a goal and an assist, Tanner Jeannot had two assists, and the Boston Bruins started a five-game homestand with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
Elias Lindholm, Mason Lohrei and Casey Mittelstadt also had goals for Boston, which was coming off a 7-4 loss at Seattle on Tuesday, and Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves.
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Calgary Flames center Connor Zary (47) collides with Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70), as Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke (26) looks on, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Calgary Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov (37) battles for the puck against Boston Bruins left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei celebrates after his goal against the Calgary Flames during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) reaches for a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Connor Zary took advantage of a Bruins defensive breakdown with 1:16 left in the second period to score for the Flames, who have now lost four games in a row, and the first two games of a five-game road trip after a 4-1 loss to Montreal on Wednesday.
Dustin Wolf had 26 saves.
Kuraly scored his 4th of the year at 9:48 of the first to get the Bruns on the board. Lindholm made it a 2-0 game with 7:54 remaining in the first period on a wrist shot.
Boston's David Pastrnak had an assist on Lindholm's goal to extend his scoring streak to four games, with four goals and four assists in that span.
Calgary's Yegor Sharangovich played in his 400th NHL game.
Calgary: Continues a five-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Boston: Hosts the New York Rangers for the second of a five-game homestand on Saturday.
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Calgary Flames center Connor Zary (47) collides with Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70), as Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke (26) looks on, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Calgary Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov (37) battles for the puck against Boston Bruins left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei celebrates after his goal against the Calgary Flames during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) reaches for a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Green Bay (9-7-1) at Chicago (11-6)
Saturday, 8 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video.
BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 1.
Against the spread: Packers 6-10-1; Bears 9-7-1.
Series record: Packers lead 109-97-6.
Last meeting: Bears beat Packers 22-16 in OT at Chicago on Dec. 20
Last week: Packers lost at Minnesota 16-3; Bears lost to Detroit 19-16.
Packers offense: overall (15), rush (15), pass (17), scoring (16)
Packers defense: overall (12), rush (18), pass (11), scoring (11)
Bears offense: overall (6), rush (3), pass (10), scoring (9)
Bears defense: overall (29), overall (27), pass (22), scoring (23)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-1; Bears plus-22.
QB Jordan Love: He hasn’t played in a game since a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker in the second quarter of the Dec. 20 Packers-Bears game sent him into concussion protocol. Love was cleared before Green Bay’s regular-season finale, but the Packers opted to rest him for the playoffs. Love has nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions in six games against the Bears.
QB Caleb Williams. The Bears envisioned deep playoff runs on a regular basis when they drafted Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year. They hope this is just the start. Williams threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Though his completion percentage ranked last among qualifying leaders, he became more and more comfortable in coach Ben Johnson's system.
Chicago's running backs against Green Bay's defensive line. Though the Bears' run game emerged as one of the best this season behind a retooled line, it was hard to tell against Detroit. Chicago managed just 65 yards rushing, with D'Andre Swift held to 40 yards on 10 attempts and rookie Kyle Monangai finishing with 14 yards on six carries. With Swift running for 1,087 yards and Monangai adding 783, the Bears were the only team with two 750-yard rushers. Green Bay struggled to stop the run in recent weeks, with Devonte Wyatt (ankle) and then Micah Parsons (knee) suffering season-ending injuries. The Packers gave up 150 yards rushing to the Bears in their most recent meeting and then allowed Derrick Henry to run for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-24 loss to Baltimore.
Packers: WR/CB Bo Melton (knee), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles tendon) and S Zayne Anderson (ankle) have gone on injured reserve since the most recent Packers-Bears game. ... WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) has been ruled out for Saturday's game. ... OT Zach Tom (knee) missed the Packers’ last three regular-season games and is questionable for Saturday. Also questionable are DL Warren Brinson (foot), S Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral) and backup QB Malik Willis (shoulder/hamstring).
Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot) expects to play after missing the final five regular-season games. ... CB Kyler Gordon (groin) is questionable as he attempts to return after being sidelined since Week 13. He has been limited to three games because of hamstring and groin injuries. ... CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson, LB Amen Ogbongbemiga and DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka have been ruled out because of concussions. ... OL Braxton Jones (knee) is questionable.
The Packers are 30-7 against the Bears counting the playoffs since the start of the 2008 season, with the past four games coming down to the wire. In 2024, both came down to field-goal attempts by Chicago's Cairo Santos on the final play — one that got blocked and one that was successful. This season, Green Bay hung on to win 28-21 in Week 14 at Lambeau Field when Keisean Nixon intercepted Williams in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining. Chicago returned the favor two weeks later, rallying from 10 down in the final two minutes of regulation before Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown to DJ Moore in overtime. This is the third playoff game between the longtime rivals — all in Chicago. The Bears won a Western Division playoff game over the Packers 33-14 at Wrigley Field on Dec. 14, 1941. The Packers beat the Bears 21-14 in an NFC championship game at Soldier Field on Jan. 23, 2011.
The Packers have the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed for the third straight year. They reached the divisional round in 2023 and lost 22-10 at Philadelphia in the wild-card round last season. … The Packers dropped their final four regular-season games. … They’re the fourth team to enter the playoffs after losing at least four straight games to end the regular season. The others were the 1986 New York Jets, 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team in that group to win a playoff game was the 1986 Jets, who beat Kansas City in the wild-card round before losing to Cleveland in overtime in the divisional round. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had 7 ½ sacks in Green Bay’s first seven games but doesn’t have any since. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs had 13 touchdown runs this season, putting him in a tie for fourth place in the league. Jacobs didn’t play against the Vikings and had just 39 yards rushing on 16 carries over his final two regular-season games as he dealt with a knee issue. … The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have lost three straight postseason games since the 2010 team beat Seattle in a divisional game at Soldier Field. ... The Bears dropped their final two regular-season games, losing to Detroit on a last-second field goal after coming up short in a 42-38 shootout at San Francisco. They gave up 433 yards against the Lions after the 49ers went off for 496. ... If Chicago beats Green Bay, Ben Johnson would become the franchise's first coach to win a playoff game in their first season. ... The Bears led the league in interceptions (23), takeaways (33) and turnover differential (plus-22) while committing a league-low 11 turnovers. ... Chicago won six games after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. ... With seven interceptions, S Kevin Byard led the league for the second time in his 10 seasons.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) runs from Detroit Lions linebacker al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
