David Krejci and Brad Marchand each scored twice for the B’s, who notched their biggest margin of victory of the season after no-showing most of Monday night’s 4-2 loss in Ottawa.
Krejci added an assist for his first three-point game of the year, while Drew Stafford and David Pastrnak each had a goal and an assist for Boston. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in net, earning his 31st win of the season (31-16-4), which snapped a two-game losing streak.
The B’s started their offensive barrage at the 11-minute mark of the first period, when Stafford bounced a lengthy cross-ice pass off the boards onto the stick of Krejci. Krejci beat Red Wings’ defenseman Danny DeKeyser to break free on net, tucking a backhand into the net for his 17th goal of the season.
Marchand gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead just over a minute later, as he took a lob pass from Pastrnak and broke past the defense before unleashing a wrist shot for his team-leading 31st goal of the year. Marchand had to race onsides before taking the high-arching pass, which gave Pastrnak his 30th assist of the season.
Stafford continued his strong play with the Bruins with his first goal with Boston 1:24 later, giving the B’s three goals in 2:25 of the first period. Henrik Zetterberg turned the puck over near the blue line, and Pastrnak took the puck into the Red Wings’ end amidst three defenders. Detroit took possession briefly, but Nick Jensen’s backhand was picked off by Stafford, who found some open ice and uncorked a quick wrist shot past goalie Jared Coreau, who was pulled after allowing three goals on just eight shots faced.
Krejci notched his second goal of the evening with 16 seconds left in the first period, as he took an errant pass from the stick of Dylan Larkin deep in his own zone and buried it past Petr Mrazek for a 4-0 lead. Krejci has five goals and six assists in his last 12 games, all under the helm of interim coach Bruce Cassidy.
After the Bruins continued peppering shots on the Wings’ backup goalie in the second period, Marchand tallied his second goal of the night on a breakaway, as Colin Miller’s pass led him behind the defense. Marchand leads the NHL with 39 points since the beginning of January, and is on pace to become the first Bruin to finish in the top five in scoring since Joe Thornton.
Detroit finally found the back of the net 40 seconds after Marchand’s 32nd goal of the year, as veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored on a knuckling puck that beat Rask. The puck made it past several bodies near the front of the net, which clearly obscured the vision of the Bruins’ netminder.
The B’s continued piling on the goals in the first minute of the third period, as Pastrnak unleashed a wicked wrist shot after a faceoff win by Krejci in the Red Wings’ zone for his 27th goal of the year.
The win puts the Bruins (35-26-6) three points ahead of the New York Islanders, who have played two fewer games than Boston, for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The B’s will next host the Philadelphia Flyers, who currently sit three points behind the Islanders, on Saturday afternoon before embarking on a four-game road trip next week.
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