BOSTON — Home sweet home.
In the final contest of a three-game homestand, the Boston Bruins won their third straight game, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Tuesday at TD Garden.
The Bruins — who were without David Pastrnak for the first time this season — rattled off three unanswered first-period goals after conceding the opening tally. Upon taking the lead at 14:47 in the first, they never tied or trailed again.
David Krejci (twice), Danton Heinen, Brad Marchand, Jake DeBrusk and Peter Cehlarik accounted for Boston’s goals. Alex DeBrincat, Duncan Keith and Erik Gustafsson recorded Chicago’s scores.
Tuukka Rask turned away 23 shots for the Bruins, while Chicago netminder Collin Delia made 31 saves.
The Bruins climbed to 32-17-8 with the win, while the Blackhawks fell to 23-25-9 with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down:
B’S POT THREE
Things didn’t get off to the best start for the Bruins, but they roared back in a big way to finish the first period ahead 3-1.
After receiving a pass from Dominik Kahun, DeBrincat darted into the offensive zone all alone, and as pressure closed in on him, he threw the puck on net. Rask kicked his right pad out to turn the shot away, but it instead hit the inside, trickled through his legs and into the net.
Chris Wagner drew a tripping call on Brent Seabrook at 13:43, and the Bruins capitalized on their first power play of the game.
As he skated through the circle, Patrice Bergeron slid a pass across the slot and found Krejci, who one-timed the equalizer past Delia from Pastrnak’s usual spot on the power play at 14:47.
Just 49 seconds later, Boston went ahead.
Zdeno Chara one-timed a shot from the point, which Delia had to go to the top of his crease to try to stop. Marchand got a piece of it, though, before it reached the net and the puck trickled over to Heinen, who quickly buried the go-ahead goal on a wide-open net at 15:36.
With the momentum well swung in their favor, the Bruins added to their lead with just over a minute left in the opening 20.
Bergeron ripped a shot that was knocked down by Delia and fell just in front of the goalie. Heinen dashed over to collect the puck, spun around and dropped a pass to a crashing Marchand, who finished with ease.
The Bruins outshot the Blackhawks 14-7 in the first period.
ONE APIECE
The Blackhawks were hit with three penalties in the second period, but it was right when the final one was released that the Bruins made them pay.
Boston had a prime opportunity late in the second when it got 1:40 of 5-on-3. The team couldn’t cash in on either, but as the second penalty finished up, Krejci, who had just received a pass from Marchand, threw the puck to the net. DeBrusk was on the doorstep and flipped it up and over Delia at 18:06.
The Blackhawks kept things somewhat interesting, though. With 22 seconds left in the frame, Connor Murphy hit Keith with a pass, and the defenseman uncorked a missile past Rask to cut Boston’s advantage to 4-2.
The Bruins outshot the Blackhawks 14-6 in the middle 20.
B’S SCORE A PAIR, CLOSE DOOR
The Blackhawks put the result in doubt early on in the final frame, but a goal from Cehlarik later on helped seal the deal for Boston.
With Noel Acciari and John Hayden serving two minutes apiece for roughing, the Blackhawks pulled within one. After Chicago established its offensive zone and got an offense set up, Gustafsson got the puck at the point and started to crash toward the net. His path to Rask didn’t collapse, and he sniped a shot past the netminder from inside the circle at 4:48.
At 5:42, Dylan Strome went into the box for slashing Kevan Miller. Torey Krug, who always is at his best on the man advantage, skated through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. He sent a pass cross-ice to Heinen, who quickly fed Cehlarik on the far post. Cehlarik redirected the pass past Delia at 7:18 to up the B’s lead to 5-3.
With just over four minutes to play, the Bruins really put the nail in the coffin. From behind the net, DeBrusk found Marchand at the face-off dot. Marchand directed a pass over to Krejci, who quickly flipped Boston’s sixth goal past Delia at 15:42.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will hit the road for a five-game swing on the West Coast beginning Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop from Honda Center is set for 10 p.m. ET.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
