The Bruins played back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday. And Boston found plenty of success both nights.
After going down midway through the first period of Sunday night’s contest against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Bruins bounced back in the second period. Patrice Bergeron (hat trick), Brad Marchand (two goals, three assists) and Charlie Coyle (one goal, one assist) helped lead the Bruins to a 7-4 victory. David Pastrnak had five assists on the night.
Despite a late-game push, the Bruins’ second-period surge was too much for the Rangers to overcome. Henrick Lundvisk stopped just 27 of the 31 shots he faced and was replaced by Alexandar Georgiev in the third. Meanwhile, Jaroslav Halak pushed away 25 shots by the Rangers.
The Bruins move to 8-1-2 with the win while the Rangers fall to 3-5-1.
Here’s how it all went down:
AN EARLY RANGERS EDGE
It wasn’t all great for the B’s in the first.
Boston started off strong, finding several quality opportunities in front of the net. Both squads found themselves on the power play early in the period, but neither would capitalize on the opportunity.
The Rangers struck first, taking a 1-0 lead midway through the period on a Michael Haley goal, his first of the season.
New York had a chance to take a two-goal lead after Marchand was called for hitting Jacob Trouba with a high stick with 7:43 to go. But strong efforts from both Halak and Charlie McAvoy helped the Bruins kill their second penalty of the night.
Despite outshooting the Rangers 10-7, the Bruins wound up down one after 20 minutes.
BRUINS GET THINGS BREWIN’
It didn’t take long for the Bruins to take control of Sunday’s contest.
Bergeron netted the Bruins’ first goal of the evening just 11 seconds into the second period, lifting one behind Lundqvist while he was tangled up with Pastrnak following a delayed penalty.
Marchand followed that up with a goal of his own just 57 seconds later.
Coyle joined in on the fun less than 10 minutes later, potting Boston’s third goal of the period. It was the Weymouth, Mass. native’s first goal of the season.
But they didn’t stop there.
Marchand notched his second goal of the period less than two minutes later, making it 4-1 B’s.
It was one of the most thrilling periods of the season, to say the least.
IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER
The Rangers pushed back in the final 20 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Boston’s second-period flurry.
Zdeno Chara wasted no time netting the B’s fifth goal of the game, taking just 43 seconds to do so.
The Rangers managed to get one back on a Pavel Buchnevich slap shot midway through the third. But Bergeron netted his second goal of the night less than three minutes later.
After Chara left the ice for a delay of game penalty with 2:08 to play, Chris Kreider cut the B’s lead in half. Skjei scored his first goal of the season 21 seconds later, making it a two-goal game with less than two minutes to play. But Bergeron sealed the deal for the B’s with an empty netter, earning himself a hat trick with 45 seconds left on the clock.
UP NEXT
The Bruins head back to Boston for a three-game homestand, starting with Tuesday night’s contest against the San Jose Sharks. Tip-off at TD Garden is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
