Tim Thomas finished with an even 40 saves as the Bruins stretch their point streak to 12 games as they are now 11-0-1 in that span.
The Bruins move back into first place in the Northeast Division and are now second in the Eastern Conference with 29 points. Despite their horrid start in October, Boston now has fewer points than just one team in the entire NHL, as they trail Pittsburgh by three.
Third Period, 18:51, Bruins 4-2: The Bruins finally can breathe, as Brad Marchand gives them the insurance goal they sought with an empty-netter.
Third Period, 16:52, Bruins 3-2: Tyler Seguin comes within inches of a huge insurance goal as he clangs the post from the right slot.
Third Period, 14:00, Bruins 3-2: Strong shift by the fourth line bleeds into a chance in front for Seguin as the lines change, but it remains a one-goal game.
Third Period, 10:44, Bruins 3-2: Thomas comes out of the crease to make a diving breakup on Bryan Little in the slot as the Jets continue to threaten.
Third Period, 7:45, Bruins 3-2: The Jets are mounting more of an attack now. They're leading 33-29 in shots and have forced Thomas to make some tough stops in the last few minutes.
Third Period, 2:11, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins can't convert on the power play despite a number of quality chances. Boston dominating right now, but still up just one and the failure to bury these chances could come back to haunt them.
Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 3-2: The final frame is under way here at the Garden, where the Bruins are looking to hold on to a one-goal lead against the Jets. They'll start the period with 2:11 left on Eric Fehr's double minor.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins, and particularly the third line of Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Benoit Pouliot, turned in a much stronger effort in the second period and were rewarded with a pair of goals for a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
Kelly scored both, but got plenty of help from each of his linemates. Peverley's shorthanded rush set up the first strike, while Pouliot's pass keyed Kelly's second. Kelly is a plus-2 with three shots in 8:18, while Peverley is plus-2 with two assists and three shots in 12:49 and Pouliot plus-1 with an assist in 5:36.
Zdeno Chara is having another big game with a goal, four shots, three hits and a plus-1 in a game-high 17:20. The Bruins are continued to win the faceoff battle, but the margin is closer at 18-13 (58 percent).
Blake Wheeler is now a minus-1 as he was on the ice for both of Kelly's goals. He has an assist but no shots in 8:24. Mark Stuart remains pus-1 with a shot, a hit and a blocked shot in 14:09.
End Second Period, Bruins 3-2: Much better frame for the Bruins, who scored the only two goals of the second period to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
Second Period, 18:11, 3-2: The Bruins now get a four-minute power play as Eric Fehr gets called for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct for a brief dustup in the Winnipeg zone.
Second Period, 16:26, 3-2: The Bruins take their first lead of the night as Chris Kelly adds another goal.
Benoit Pouliot made the play, keeping the puck in at the left point, driving down the wing and sending a crossing pass over to Kelly for the one-timer from the right circle.
Second Period, 15:32, 2-2: The Bruins can't convert on either penalty as the sides are back at even strength.
Second Period, 13:32, 2-2: The Bruins get a brief 5 on 3 as Alex Burmistrov hits Chara from behind into the boards. He gets just two minutes for boarding, but the first 20 seconds will be a two-man advantage.
Second Period, 11:15, 2-2: The Bruins threaten again shorthanded and this time Daniel Paille's rush forces Zach Bogosian to clear the puck over the glass. That's an automatic penalty for delay of game and the sides are skating 4 on 4 now.
Second Period, 10:45, 2-2: The Bruins are shorthanded again as Brad Marchand is sent to the box for hooking.
Second Period, 7:28, 2-2: Apologize for lack of updates, but some technical issues have struck here at the Garden.
The Bruins have pulled even with a shorthanded tally by Chris Kelly after Nathan Horton was called for tripping. Rich Peverley made the initial rush down the right wing and cutting to the front of the net. Kelly followed up and banged it home into the open net.
After the goal, Byfuglien shoved Kelly down from behind, and Kelly slashed him back in response, but no penalties were called.
Second Period, 0:00, Jets 2-1: The middle frame is under way here at the garden, where it will be 4 on 4 for the first 23 seconds before the Jets will have a power play for just over a minute.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins started strong for the first few shifts, but the complexion of the game changed after a costly too many men penalty against Boston.
Winnipeg didn't score on the power play, but the Jets took over momentum and scored twice in 39 seconds later in the first. Boston regained some traction late in the frame with Zdeno Chara scoring on the power play to pull within a goal, but that's as close as they got as Boston trails 2-1 after one.
Dustin Byfuglien was dominant for much of the season series last year against Atlanta, and he's att it again in this one with a goal and an assist so far. Old Friend Blake Wheeler also has an assist and is plus-1 in 5:13, while Mark Stuart is plus-1 in 7:19.
The Bruins have been very sloppy at times, with Joe Corvo and Adam McQuaid in particular struggling to keep their footing at times. Corvo's fall late in the period led to a holding penalty that negated a Boston power play.
One area the Bruins are doing well in is the faceoff battle. Boston is 13-4 on draws (76 percent), with Patrice Bergeron (4-1), Rich Peverley (3-0), David Krejci (3-1) and Gregory Campbell (2-0) all off to strong starts in that department. Now the Bruins just have to do a little better once they have control of the puck.
End First Period, Jets 2-1: The first period is in the books. It wasn't a very good one for the Bruins, but they trail by just a goal after 20 minutes.
First Period, 19:23, Jets 2-1: The Bruins squander that chance as Joe Corvo falls, allowing Bryan Little to have a shorthanded bid, and Corvo compounds his mistake by taking a holding penalty on the play.
First Period, 18:23, Jets 2-1: The Bruins go right back on the power play as Brad Marchand draws an interference call on Zach Bogosian with a strong rush down the left wing.
First Period, 16:38, Jets 2-1: The Bruins answer on the power play, with Zdeno Chara getting Boston on the board.
The captain one-timed a pass from David Krejci from the top of the right circle. Pavelec got a piece of the puck, but couldn't stop it from going in at the near post.
First Period, 16:00, Jets 2-0: The Bruins get their first chance on the power play as Dustin Byfuglien is sent to the box for interference.
First Period, 15:05, Jets 2-0: More sloppy play by the Bruins, as Thomas turns the puck over behind the net. Alex Burmistrov gets it and feeds it out front to Glass, but he fires wide again.
First Period, 12:15, Jets 2-0: The Jets with another odd-man break off a Bruins turnover, but Tanner Glass fires wide from the left wing.
First Period, 10:10, Jets 2-0: The Jets add another as Dustin Byfuglien scores on a blast from the right point.
The Bruins use their timeout as Claude Julien tries to settle down the club.
First Period, 9:31, Jets 1-0: The Jets strike first as Evander Kane finishes a 2-on-1 break down low.
Kane took the pass from Dustin Byfuglien and beat Thomas with a move to his backhand. Blake Wheeler gets the secondary assist.
First Period, 6:26, 0-0: The Bruins kill off the penalty, though Evander Kane nearly scored when a strange bounce off the boards gave him a wide-open chance in front. Thomas squeezed the pads just in time to stop the backhand bid.
First Period, 4:26, 0-0: The Bruins get called for the first penalty of the night as they get caught with too many men on the ice. Tyler Seguin is serving the penalty.
First Period, 1:35, 0-0: The Bruins with a strong start, with Brad Marchand having a bid in close from the right side, then Joe Corvo pinching in for a blast from the slot.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way here at the Garden, with the Winnipeg Jets making their first visit to Boston in over 16 years.
7 p.m.: Both Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler are in the starting lineup for Winnipeg. Stuart is joined on the blue line by Dustin Byfuglien, while Wheeler is up front with Evander Kane and Bryan Little. Ondrej Pavelec is in net.
The Bruins counter with the top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton, with Zdeno Chara ad Johnny Boychuk on defense and Tim Thomas in goal.
6:55 p.m.: The Bruins have officially scratched Jordan Caron and Steven Kampfer, so no lineup changes for Boston.
Ron hainsey is out for Winnipeg, along with Tim Stapleton. jason Jaffray will get in up front in Stapleton's spot.
6:50 p.m.: Winnipeg defenseman Ron Hainsey was not on the ice for warm-ups. He did not play Friday in Carolina, but was supposed to be a game-time decision. It appers the Bolton, Conn. native will be out again.
6:45 p.m.: Jordan Caron and Steven Kampfer skated in warm-ups after not taking the ice before Friday's game, but they did not take part in the line rushes and it appears there will be no changes in the Bruins lineup.
Here are the full line combinations from warm-ups:
Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Peverley
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-Corvo
Ference-McQuaid
6:30 p.m.: Tim Thomas and Ondrej Pavelec lead the teams out for warm-ups. As expected, that will be the goaltending matchup for this one.
6 p.m.: There are a few familiar faces in the building for this one.
Forward Blake Wheeler and defenseman Mark Stuart return to Boston as members of the Winnipeg Jets, having relocated with the franchise after it moved from Atlanta this summer. Both discussed the mixed feelings they had in watching the Bruins win the Cup last spring without them, noting they were happy to see their friends win, but disappointed in not being a part of it.
There were no such feelings for Shane Hnidy, who went out on top as a Cup champion with the Bruins. He's in town too, enjoying his first season behind the mic as the Jets' radio color commentator.
5:45 p.m.: The Bruins and Jets will face off in a little more than an hour here at the Garden.
Tim Thomas is expected to get start in goal after getting Friday off while Tuukka Rask played against Detroit.
The Jets are expected to counter with Ondrej Pavelec, who also had a rare night off on Friday. He sat in favor of Chris Mason after starting the previous 13 games for Winnipeg, but Pavelec will likely be back between the pipes in this one.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins had their 10-game win streak snapped on Friday with a shootout loss to Detroit, but they won't have to wait long to try to get a new one started.
The Bruins get right back at it Saturday at the Garden. And while there may not be much time between games for Boston, there's been plenty of time between visits from this particular opponent, as the Winnipeg Jets return to Boston for the first time in over 16 years.
The last time Winnipeg played in Boston — back on Nov. 21, 1995 — the Bruins came away with a 5-4 win. That was before the Jets moved to Phoenix to become the Coyotes. Winnipeg got its team back this summer, albeit through a different franchise, with the Atlanta Thrashers moving north and taking on the Jets moniker.
These Jets are suddenly flying high, going 4-0-1 in their last five games while outscoring their opponents 21-12 in that span. That includes a 3-1 win in Carolina on Friday night, though the Jets are still just 12th in the East at 9-9-4 overall.
"It's another game," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "You've got to get ready for the next one. We know that they play a hard game and they have a heavy team and they can't be taken lightly. We've got to get ready for them, just like everybody else."
The Bruins have been ready for just about everyone they've faced this month. After going just 3-7-0 in October, they are 10-0-1 in November. Even Friday's setback featured a very strong performance as Boston outshot the Red Wings 43-31, controlled play for much of the game and rallied to tie it in the third to get a point out of it.
"For us, we got a point out of this game and you move on and [Saturday] is an important tilt again against a team in our conference," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "You really have to turn the page. Hopefully our guys didn't get too high on that [win streak] that it deflates them. I liked our game [Friday] and think it's important that we carry that into [Saturday]. … Maybe losing that point will give us that hunger to go out [Saturday] and play the same way."
The Jets will bring a couple familiar faces with them to the Garden. Former Bruins Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler both re-signed with the franchise after being dealt to Atlanta at the trade deadline last season in the deal that brought Rich Peverley to Boston.
Stuart has 2-4-6 totals with 24 PIMs, 50 hits and 56 blocked shots in 20 games while averaging 19:25 of ice time on the Winnipeg blue line. Wheeler has 1-0-11 totals and is a plus-5 in 22 games while averaging 16:22 up front. Peverley has 4-8-12 totals and is a plus-5 while averaging 17:06 for Boston this season.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action from the Garden.
