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Big Win!

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Boston 4, Tampa Bay 2

When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 29, 2018
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Attendance: 17,565
By Field Level Media

BOSTON – David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron scored key goals, and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves as the Boston Bruins leapfrogged Tampa Bay into first place in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 win over the visiting Lightning on Thursday night.

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Pastrnak’s 32nd goal of the season late in the first period was the Bruins’ second in the final minute of the opening frame. Bergeron’s 28th goal with 8:01 remaining in the third added some important insurance before Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman scored his 15th with 6:06 left.

Brad Marchand’s team-leading 34th goal, an empty-netter with 55.1 seconds to play, sealed the win.

With 107 points, the Bruins are now one point ahead of the Lightning with a game in hand. Tampa Bay had been in first place in the division since Oct. 19.

Tim Schaller scored his 12th goal for Boston, which bounced back from a 5-4 shootout loss in Winnipeg on Tuesday to win for the third time in four games.

J.T. Miller collected his 21st goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 26 saves as Tampa Bay took its third straight defeat and its fifth in eight games.

The Bruins blanked the Lightning 3-0 in the first game between the Atlantic Division powerhouses this season March 17 in St. Petersburg, Fla. The teams conclude their three-game season series April 3 at Tampa Bay.

Schaller beat Tampa Bay’s Ryan McDonagh to the puck in front of Vasilevskiy and poked in the rebound with 57.8 seconds left in the first period.

Pastrnak was credited with the Bruins’ second goal on a power play with 25.8 ticks to go in the first after he fired in a wrist shot from the left circle.

Miller slammed home a hot feed from Nikita Kucherov right in front of the crease to bring Tampa Bay within 2-1 just 1:44 into the second.

Later in the second period, Rask threw several punches at Cory Conacher after the Tampa Bay left winger got tangled up with Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo and was slow to get out of the crease. Rask and Conacher were assessed roughing minors, and Conacher was also whistled for goalie interference.

Vasilevskiy skated down the ice toward Rask before the on-ice officials kept them separated.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Back to Winning Ways

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Boston 3, Dallas 2
When: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, March 23, 2018
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 18,532
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

DALLAS – David Pastrnak scored with 11.1 seconds left in regulation and Brad Marchand collected one goal and three points as the Boston Bruins scored three unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 Friday night in Dallas.

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Bruins’ goalkeeper Tuukka Rask

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Just as it appeared the game was headed to overtime, Marchand dished the puck down low to Pastrnak, who worked around Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen before burying a shot, stunning the Stars and their faithful at American Airlines Center.

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 40 saves as the under-manned Bruins snapped a two-game losing skid without forwards Patrice Bergeron, David Backes and Rick Nash and defensemen Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug, among others.

Marchand was definitely the hero, leading the charge after his team trailed 2-0 through two periods. First, he put the Bruins on the board just 77 seconds into the third period when Pastrnak’s shot bounced off his leg as he was causing chaos in front of the net.

Marchand then set up Tim Schaller’s shorthanded goal at the 9:47 mark of the third period to tie the game 2-2. A lucky bounce on a clearing attempt sprung the pair on a rush that Schaller finished with a backhand deke.

It was a painful defeat for the Stars, who returned home after a winless six-game road trip that put them outside a wildcard spot in the Western Conference playoff chase.

The Stars had early momentum when Esa Lindell opened the scoring just 2:26 into the game, ripping a wrist shot from just inside the top of the left circle that squeezed under Rask’s armpit.

Things looked even better for the hosts when captain Jamie Benn netted a shorthanded breakaway tally with 37.5 seconds left in the second period to double the lead. Benn held off the check from Marchand as he deposited a one-handed backhand, giving him five goals and nine points in a six-game stretch.

But the Stars and Lehtonen — who made 33 saves — couldn’t hold the lead and now sit four points out of a playoff spot with seven games remaining.

–Field Level Media

It Had to End Sometime …

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Buffalo 4, Boston 2

When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 10, 2018
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Attendance: 17,565
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

BOSTON – Tuukka Rask’s lengthy points streak came to an end at the hands of an unlikely source.

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Boston’s Tuukka Rask

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Evander Kane, Scott Wilson and Benoit Pouliot each got pucks past the Bruins’ goaltender to snap his career-best personal 21-game points streak and lift the last-place Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory Saturday night in Boston.

Rasmus Ristolainen scored Buffalo’s final tally on an empty-netter.

Rask went 19-0-2 during his streak, with his last regulation loss before Saturday coming in a 5-3 decision at Nashville on Dec. 4. Ryan Spooner and David Backes each scored for Boston, which snapped its four-game winning streak.

Buffalo won its second straight game following a four-game skid. The Sabres entered the night in the Eastern Conference cellar with the second-fewest points in the NHL and dead last in scoring, averaging 2.3 goals per game.

Jack Eichel left the game with a lower-body injury after the Sabres’ former No. 2 overall pick out of Boston University collided with Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk — another BU product — behind the Bruins’ net late in the first period.

Rask made 24 saves as he was outdueled by his former backup Chad Johnson, who had 25 stops. Johnson improved to 12-1-0 at TD Garden.

Kane opened the scoring with a breakaway goal with 12:18 left in the second period, beating Rask high glove-side. His 17 goals are second only to Eichel’s 22 for the Sabres this season.

Wilson scored his third of the year with 7:16 left in the second, firing a rebound past Rask glove-side after he tipped a blue-line shot from Nathan Beaulieu off Boston’s Adam McQuaid in front of the net.

Spooner’s goal gave the home crowd some life with 5:21 to go in the second, sending a backhanded feed from Jake DeBrusk in front of the crease past Johnson.

Ex-Bruin Pouliot scored his 10th of the year with 1:11 to play in the period after McQuaid’s giveaway led to a 3-on-1 opportunity.

With Rask on the bench, Backes tipped in his 10th goal off a shot from Patrice Bergeron with 59 seconds to play. Ristolainen’s empty-netter, his fourth goal of the year, ended hopes of a Boston comeback with 28.2 ticks left.

–Field Level Media

NHL: Pitt OTs Bruins

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Pittsburgh 4, Boston 3
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Where: PPG PAINTS Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 18415

PITTSBURGH – (Wire Service Report by Sports XChange for Digital Sports Desk) – The third period typically is magic for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. But overtime will do, too. Bryan Rust provided the theatrics Wednesday with his first career overtime goal as the Penguins won their season-high seventh game in a row, 4-3 over the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.The Penguins twice came back to forge a 1-1 tie after one period and a 2-2 tie after two periods. They improved to 10-7-3 when they trail or are tied going into the third period, thanks to Rust’s backhand flip past Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask and under the crossbar at 1:24 of overtime. Rust converted a feed from Evgeni Malkin.

 Bryan Rust vs Tuukka Rask
“(Justin Schultz) made a nice play to quick-up the puck to (Malkin),” Rust said. “He saw I had a step on my guy. He made a nice play to space. I just kind of whacked at it, and it went in.

“The ice wasn’t great in overtime, obviously, after playing a whole game, so I was just trying to catch Rask off-guard, and I was lucky enough to do that. Trying to get it up. It just happened to be kind a little bit lucky.”

Rust has five goals and two assists over his past six games. Malkin extended his point streak at home to 13 games.

The Penguins (20-7-3) also won a season-best sixth straight at home, where they are 13-2-1.

Boston (16-12-3) lost for the fourth time in its past five games, although it got three points on a two-game road trip.

“There’s a pretty strong belief no matter what kind of game it is that we can find a way to win it,” said Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, who did not add to his league-leading total of 21 goals but got an assist to extend his point streak to nine games. “If it’s going to be a tight, low-scoring game, we feel like we can do that and wait for our chances, and if it’s high-scoring, we feel like we can score.”

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NHL: B’s Take Panthers in OT

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Boston 4, Florida 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 5, 2016
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Attendance: 17,565

BOSTON – (Wire Service Report by Sports XChange for Digital Sports Desk) – David Pastrnak scored a spectacular goal 1:23 into overtime, giving the Boston Bruins their third straight victory, a 4-3 decision over the Florida Panthers on Monday.

Pastrnak, scoring his second goal of the game and 15th of the season, broke around defenseman Michael Matheson, got goaltender Roberto Luongo down on the ice and flipped the puck home, handing Florida its first loss in six overtime decisions on the season. David Krejci got his second assist of the game on the play.

David Pastrnak

The Panthers rallied from three one-goal deficits, tying it for the last time when defenseman Jason Demers picked up a rebound off the back boards and smacked it home before goalie Tuukka Rask could recover. The goal came with 1:29 remaining and Luongo just pulled for an extra attacker.

David Backes, who had five shots on goal, deflected home Ryan Spooner’s screened shot to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead with 6:52 left. Spooner, robbed by Luongo in the first period but playing a strong game, let a shot go from outside the faceoff circle. Backes, tied up with defenseman Mark Pysyk in front, re-directed in his seventh goal of the season. It was Backes’ third goal in the last five games.

Rask stopped 27 shots and raised his season record to 14-4-1 and his career mark against the Panthers to 17-3-1. The Bruins are 15-2-1 in the last 18 and 21-4-1 in the last 26 games against Florida.

The Panthers fell to 1-1-2 under interim coach Tom Rowe, and 1-2-2 in the first five games of a six-game road trip. Aleksander Barkov had tied the game 2-2 with 12:06 remaining. Tim Schaller also scored for the Bruins, with Jaromir Jagr answering his goal with the 754th goal and 1,881st point of his NHL career.

The Bruins are 12-0 on the season when leading after two periods, but the Panthers tied the game with the help of a Boston turnover. Patrice Bergeron coughed up the puck and former Bruin Reilly Smith got it to Barkov. His snipe from the slot was only his second goal in the last 24 games, but both have come in the last three.

Luongo made 32 saves.

NOTES: Bruins D Zdeno Chara returned after missing six games with a lower body injury. D Torey Krug missed the morning skate because of illness but played. … Boston LW Matt Beleskey and Florida C Jonathan Marchessault, both day to day with lower body injuries, missed their first games of the season. … Florida Fs Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton and Seth Griffith (scratched Monday) are all former Bruins, and D Keith Yandle, interim coach Tom Rowe, recently recalled C Paul Thompson and assistant coach Scott Allen are all from the Boston area. Goaltender coach Robb Tallas is also a former Bruin. “I grew up here; it’s always fun coming back home,” Rowe said. “Everyone will have a lot of family in the stands who are from here. It’s good, but at the end of the day we got to get two points. That’s what I’m worried about.” … The Bruins honored local Olympic medalists in a brief pregame ceremony. … The Panthers end their six-game road trip on Tuesday in Philadelphia. The Bruins are at Washington on Wednesday and host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

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