BOSTON — Save for one shootout tally, Tyler Seguin failed to score a goal in his first four games against his former team, the Bruins.
He made up for it Tuesday night.
Seguin notched the seventh hat trick of his career and his first at TD Garden as his Dallas Stars raced past the Bruins 5-3, ending Boston’s win streak at four.
FIRST PERIOD
We’ll get to how the Bruins dominated the first period in a second, but first, a look at the game’s first goal, scored by none other than Mr. Seguin.
The ex-Bruins phenom received a pass form linemate Jason Spezza, took advantage of the space afforded to him by Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller and rifled a shot between Miller’s legs, through traffic and over the left shoulder of goalie Tuukka Rask.
It was the 300th point of Seguin’s NHL career and his first goal in five games against his former team.
But apart from that one goal, the opening frame belonged to the home team.
The Bruins accounted for 12 of the game’s first 14 shots on goal, and Colin Miller quickly erased the Stars’ early advantage with his first NHL goal: a bomb from the blue line off assists from Torey Krug and Jimmy Hayes.
A Jordie Benn holding penalty in the final minute of the period unleashed Boston’s league-leading power play, and Loui Eriksson capitalized, threading the rebound of a Krug slapper past Dallas netminder Kari Lehtonen.
The Bruins owned a 16-5 shot advantage after one.
It was not all positive for the Bruins, however, as they lost versatile forward Chris Kelly to what appeared to be a serious knee injury just three seconds into his first shift of the night. The team later announced Kelly had suffered a fractured femur and would miss the next six to eight months.
SECOND PERIOD
Boston killed off its first penalty of the night (a Matt Beleskey cross-check), but it was not so lucky with its second.
Brett Connolly was sent to the box for hooking at 4:31 of the second period, and Seguin deposited his second goal of the night just six seconds later.
The Bruins came up empty on their only power-play opportunity of the period, but the play that led to it might earn Antoine Roussel a call from the league office. Roussel was whistled for tripping after hitting Zac Rinaldo with a combination slew foot/high stick, both of which are frowned upon by referees.
The Stars added one more before the end of the second — Jyrki Jokipakka’s first NHL goal put Dallas up 3-2 — and Johnny Oduya made a superb defensive play to deny Ryan Spooner in the period’s final moments.
THIRD PERIOD
Seguin finished off his hat trick less than two minutes into the final frame. Krug was whistled for putting the puck over the glass, and Seguin needed just 12 seconds to pot his third goal of the game.
Several Bruins players believed the Stars had left the offensive zone during their initial power-play push, and Seguin struck while they argued their case to the linesman.
The 23-year-old winger is the first former Bruin to notch a hat trick against his old team since Mariusz Czerkawski did so on Nov 7, 1996, per Sportsnet.
Alex Goligoski netted another power-play goal to put Dallas ahead 5-2, and Eriksson added one final tally for Boston — his second of the night — to close out the scoring.
An already-struggling Bruins penalty-kill unit desperately missed Kelly, surrendering three man-down goals for the first time this season.
UP NEXT
The Bruins now head out for a three-game road trip, beginning Thursday night in Washington. The Capitals will be another difficult test, as they entered Tuesday with the best record in the Metropolitan Division.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
