BOSTON – In their final home dress rehearsal of the preseason prior to the start of the regular season schedule at TD Garden, the Boston Bruins gave their fans plenty to cheer about.
Powered by three goals scored in the first period, the B’s took a 4-2 win over a preseason roster of Chicago Blackhawks players at the Garden to push their preseason record to 4-1-0 with a couple of exhibition games still left to be played. It was as much the players that scored as the scoring itself was the cause of excitement with Boston’s star players stepping up, and the young prospects once again demanding notice during auditions for NHL jobs.
David Pastrnak scored on a sniper shot over Corey Crawford’s glove hand just 52 seconds into the game, and Jeremy Lauzon followed 36 seconds later with a long distance blast from the left point.
Anders Bjork made it a breakout night when he stepped into a one-timer blast midway through the first while teaming up with prospective linemates Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Brandon Saad and John Hayden pushed it back to a one-goal game midway through the second period, but a power-play strike from Bergeron in the third period gave the Bruins all the cushion they would need for victory.
Malcolm Subban got the start for the B’s between the pipes, and he was strong while stopping 24-of-26 shots that he faced, including a flurry of athletic saves in the third period that got the home crowd on its feet. Subban finished up with a strong 14 saves in the third period while helping the B’s slam the door on the Blackhawks.