As battered and bruised as they are, the Boston Bruins would prefer not to play from behind, as they currently aren’t built to make a comeback.
So when the B’s fell into an early one-goal hole against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night, one would think that the Black and Gold were in trouble.
But that was not the case.
The Bruins ripped off two quick goals in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, and then Boston took over the game with two more goals in the second period en route to a 5-3 win at TD Garden.
Minnesota scored two goals in the third period to trim the Bruins’ lead to one, but the Wild were unable to even the score in the final five minutes and Tim Schaller added an empty-net goal to secure the win.
Jake DeBrusk, Frank Vatrano, Sean Kuraly and Torey Krug also found the back of the net for Boston, as they held on to beat an undermanned Wild team.
The Bruins improved to 6-4-3 with the win, while the Wild fell to 5-6-2.
Here’s how it all went down:
WILD STRIKE
Minnesota put the Bruins behind the eight ball early, as the Wild scored at the 4:53 mark in the first period.
Ryan Suter ripped a shot at Tuukka Rask, who made the initial save. The B’s netminder gave up a juicy rebound, though, and Nino Niederreiter collected the puck, made a double move and put the puck past Rask to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
B’S CATCH A BREAK
Boston knotted the game at one thanks to a lucky break at the 10:23 mark in the first frame.
DeBrusk won a battle for the puck against Jared Spurgeon. The B’s winger attempted to center the puck in front of the net, but it deflected off Suter and into the back of the net to give DeBrusk his second goal of the year.
VATRANO ROCKET
Boston took the lead two minutes after DeBrusk’s game-tying goal.
Vatrano took the puck up the boards and unleashed a rocket toward Wild netminder Devan Dubnyk. The puck clanged off the near post and bounced off the back of Dubnyk’s leg to give Vatrano his first goal of the season.
Jordan Szwarz picked up his first assist on the goal.
AGGRESSION PAYS OFF
The B’s started taking it to Minnesota in the second period, as Boston peppered the net to begin the frame.
After launching six shots on goal in the first six minutes of the period, the Bruins finally put one past Dubnyk.
Schaller blew past Niederreiter and blasted a shot toward the net. Dubnyk was able to block the shot and stymy the rebound attempt from Danton Heinen, but Kuraly came flying toward the net and smacked the puck into the back of the net to give the B’s a 3-1 lead.
Two minutes later, the Bruins scored again when David Pastrnak dropped the puck off for Krug, who blistered it past Dubnyk.
MAKING IT CLOSE
The Wild found the back of the net twice in the third period, making Boston sweat it out.
Rask mad a key save on a penalty shot by Mikael Granlund halfway through the period that would have trimmed Boston’s lead to one.
Eric Staal scored a shorthanded goal at the 15:09 mark in the period to make it 4-3, but they would get no closer as Schaller scored an empty-net goal to give Boston the win.
UP NEXT
The Bruins take the ice again Wednesday when they face the New York Rangers. Puck drop from Madison Square Garden is set for 8 p.m. E.T.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
