FINAL SCORE: Bruins 4, Coyotes 3
IN BRIEF: Brad Marchand had two goals as the Bruins broke out with a four-goal outburst in a 4-minute, 52-second span of the second period to turn a two-goal deficit into a lead they wouldn't relinquish as they held on to beat Arizona 4-3 and extend their win streak to three. BOX SCORE
BRUINS RECORD: 17-10-2 (38 points, T-3rd in Atlantic with the Buffalo Sabres)
FROM JOE HAGGERTY:
BOSTON - What a stunning turn of events with the Bruins scoring four goals in less than a five-minute span to claim the lead in the second period after a sleepy first. It was really the first time where it looked like Brad Marchand, David Krejci and David Pastrnak just couldn’t be stopped, much like the old line with Bergeron in the middle. When it was all over, all three forwards had three points and Marchand had two goals to start upping his production total. The best part was the tic-tac-toe passing and creativity that all three forwards showed together as their chemistry is clearly building in their third game together since Bruce Cassidy decided to make another super line.
Danton Heinen has goals in two of the past three games and may just be starting to come to life offensively. This time he did a great job of accepting the pass from Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, controlling it with his skate and then kicking it to his stick before flicking it into the open net. It was great patience on Heinen’s part and a sweet, sweet backhanded saucer pass from JFK to set up Heinen in the first place. Heinen had two shots on net through the first two periods, which isn’t explosive offensively at all but is as active as he’s been through his quiet period offensively.
Scary scene in the first period for David Backes as Oliver Ekman-Larsson fell to the ice and somehow his leg kicked up in the air and the skate blade sliced open the B’s power forward’s face. He immediately sprint-skated off the ice tossing his gloves off as he covered his bloody face and headed toward the dressing room. It was a good thing it was his mouth area rather than his neck or his eyes, but it’s still a totally scary situation. Still, how do you know Backes is a hockey player? Because he had his face sliced open by the blade and got back out there in the second without hesitation. Seeing something like that can lift a hockey bench as much as anything else.
Boston Bruins
John Moore had a rough game. He’s been mostly solid for the Black and Gold throughout the season and really doesn’t seem to make a lot of mistakes out there. On Arizona’s second goal he tried a backhanded clear from the slot, and it got blocked as the puck stayed in the defensive zone with Arizona on the attack. Eventually, a Nick Cousins shot deflected off Moore and past Rask to give the Coyotes a then-2-0 lead. In the second period, it was again Moore that couldn’t handle a puck behind the net and shuffled it toward Tuukka Rask. The Bruins goalie couldn’t handle it and it ended up leading to another Coyotes goal.
Six hits and 7 of 13 face-off wins along with a shot on net for Sean Kuraly in the Arizona win as it appears his broken nose and slightly messed up face isn’t deterring him from playing a hard, fourth-line game. That was the damage done after Ben Harpur smashed him in the face with a right-handed uppercut during their fight in Ottawa on Sunday night. Just another tough guy for the Black and Gold as the roster is beginning to show off that grit they seemed to be missing during much of the last few weeks without Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller.
HIGHLIGHTS:
KREJCI-PASTRNAK-MARCHAND MAKE IT FOUR GOALS IN 4:52:
MARCHAND GIVES B'S A 3-2 LEAD:
PASTRNAK TIES IT AT 2:
DANTON HEINEN GETS THE B'S ON THE BOARD:
UP NEXT:
At Pittsburgh, Friday, 7 p.m. (NESN)
Vs. Buffalo, Sunday, 5 p.m. (NESN)