BOSTON — The Bruins snapped their home losing skid in emphatic fashion Tuesday night, getting goals from five different players and three different lines in a 6-0 thrashing of the visiting Arizona Coyotes.
Tuukka Rask posted a 24-save shutout, David Krejci extended his point streak with a pair of goals, and Loui Eriksson, Jimmy Hayes, Brad Marchand and Matt Beleskey all recorded multiple points as the Bruins won at TD Garden for the first time this season.
FIRST PERIOD
Boston’s second line of Eriksson, Krejci and David Pastrnak clearly was the best on the ice in the first period, so it was only fitting that it produced the game’s first goal.
After 17 minutes of scoreless hockey, Krejci gained possession in the neutral zone, sold a fake pass to Brett Connolly (making Coyotes defenseman Niklas Grossman look foolish in the process) and beat goalie Mike Smith to put the home team on the board.
Krejci finished the game with two points on two goals and has tallied at least one in all each of Boston’s first eight games. Eriksson and Torey Krug were credited with assists.
Krejci (three) and Pastrnak (two) accounted for more than half of the Bruins’ nine shots on goal in the first. Pastrnak also drew the game’s first penalty, though the B’s were unable to capitalize on the ensuing power play.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bruins hit two posts early in the second, but Smith’s luck would not last long.
Beleskey, who was bumped down to the third line after missing the previous two games with an upper body injury, backhanded a shot toward the Arizona netminder, and Hayes was there to hammer home the rebound.
Hayes now has three goals in his last five games after going without a point in the first three.
An Adam McQuaid interference penalty gave the Coyotes a power play shortly after Hayes’ tally, but Tobias Rieder nullified it when he was sent to the box just five seconds into the man advantage. Rieder hooked the leg of Kevan Miller, sending the Bruins defenseman flying awkwardly into the end boards.
Miller immediately exited down the tunnel. He briefly returned later in the period but did not see action in the third.
Defenseman Joe Morrow then gave the Bruins a commanding 3-0 lead with his first goal of the season: a coast-to-coast effort culminating in a bar-down snipe from the slot.
Beleskey assisted on the goal, which was just the second by a Bruins blueliner this season.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bruins did not have the greatest track record of late-game success in their first four home games, having scored just two goals in the third period and overtime while allowing nine. That was not an issue Tuesday, however. Instead, they pressed the pedal down harder.
Connolly scored off a slick feed from Marchand to make it 4-0, and Marchand potted one of his own on the power play less than three minutes later. Krejci’s second tally, which came in the game’s final minute, capped off the rout.
Rask played his best game of the season in net to improve to 2-3-1 on the season, and the Bruins completely neutralized star Coyotes rookies Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, who finished a combined minus-3 with two total shots on goal.
UP NEXT
The Bruins now take their talents to the Sunshine State for a pair of Atlantic Division matchups. First up: the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
