Boston Bruins
“We talked about the importance of this game and not creating a losing streak.”
It didn’t take long for the Boston Bruins to put the Golden Knights on the ropes Thursday night at TD Garden.
Boston’s eventual 4-3 win over Vegas was fueled by an impressive offensive salvo generated by Marco Sturm’s team in the first period — with the Bruins scoring three goals in the span of just 54 seconds.
According to NHL.com writer Joe McDonald, Thursday marked the three fastest goals scored by Boston in a game since Dec. 20, 2001 — when Brian Rolston, Andy Hilbert, and Rob Zamuner all lit the lamp in 52 seconds in a 5-0 win over Montreal.
Charlie McAvoy, Elias Lindholm, and Tanner Jeannot all scored in less than a minute on Thursday, with Boston bouncing back after suffering a 6-2 lopsided loss to the Stars on Tuesday. Boston has now won nine out of its last 11 games.
“We talked before the game that this game was huge,” McAvoy said postgame. “This was a really important game. Obviously everybody knows our team — we’ve been a little bit of up and down. And we talked about the importance of this game and not creating a losing streak.
“Something where we’re trying to dig our way out of, like we have been. So I think we came out strong — special teams were great, and it was really important for us to capitalize on home ice.”
A double minor for high-sticking assessed against Tomas Hertl after he caught Alex Steeves in the face allowed Boston to strike nine minutes into the game.
Just 11 seconds after Boston’s power play commenced, McAvoy gave Boston an early lead — taking a feed from David Pastrnak and uncorking a one-timer that sailed past Vegas goalie Akira Schmid to make it a 1-0 game.
Just 30 seconds later — and with Hertl still mired in the sin bin — Lindholm got in on the fun.
A crisp passing sequence between McAvoy, Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, and Lindholm allowed Boston to double its lead.
After McAvoy lofted the puck over to Geekie at the left circle, the Bruins winger fired a feed to Pastrnak at the right circle. Without hesitating, Pastrnak dished it back to a lurking Lindholm in the low slot — who snapped the offering home to make it a 2-0 game.
Boston didn’t let up even as the game reverted to 5-on-5 play.
After Boston’s checking line hemmed in Vegas below their net, Golden Knights blueliner Ben Hutton attempted to ferry the puck out of danger. But after getting tangled up by Jeannot, Hutton lofted the puck toward the blue line in hopes of a clear.
It was intercepted by Sean Kuraly, who fed it ahead to Jeannot before the Bruins bruiser roofed it over Schmid. It marked Jeannot’s fifth goal of the season and the 100th career assist for Kuraly.
As impressive as Thursday’s surge was, it wasn’t the fastest trio of Bruins tallies in franchise history. During the 1970-71 season, Johnny Bucyk, Ed Westfall, and Ted Green all scored in 20 seconds as part of an 8-2 win over the Canucks on Feb. 25, 1971.
The Bruins needed that three-goal outburst in the first period, as the Golden Knights made it a game after scoring three goals of their own in the third period.
But Boston doled out enough damage ahead of those final 20 minutes to secure another two points in the standings.
Pastrnak scored Boston’s eventual game-winning goal off a slick feed from Nikita Zadorov at 7:25 in the second period, while Joonas Korpisalo made several Grade-A stops en route to his fourth win in a row.
The Bruins — who have won six straight games at TD Garden — will now host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
“We definitely made some mistakes, but we didn’t stop playing,” Pastrnak said. “Like I said, that’s a good team over there. They made their push. … Yes, we have to be better. Keep playing on our toes and keep extending the lead and don’t sit back.
“But like I said, we’ll take the win. We’ve been playing some good hockey in this building and the fans are behind us. So just have to keep building on that.”
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