BOSTON — The Bruins have waited a while for these things, and got them just in time to start a four-game road trip.
The B’s got goals from their third and fourth lines before the bigger guns contributed on Sunday night, and completed a 3-1-0 homestand with a 4-1 decision over the Golden Knights.
The Bruins, who had split their previous six games, won a second straight game for the first time since Oct. 23-25. They’d [...]
BOSTON — The Bruins have waited a while for these things, and got them just in time to start a four-game road trip.
The B’s got goals from their third and fourth lines before the bigger guns contributed on Sunday night, and completed a 3-1-0 homestand with a 4-1 decision over the Golden Knights.
The Bruins, who had split their previous six games, won a second straight game for the first time since Oct. 23-25. They’d split six games in between.
Similar to Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs, the Bruins were outplayed for a good chunk of the first period -- largely because they took killed three penalties in the first 14 minutes -- but got goals from their third and fourth lines and went ahead 2-0.
Danton Heinen, who didn’t score a goal in his first 12 games, netted his second in the last three to give the B’s a quick 1-0 lead. He and linemate Anders Bjork started a 2-on-2 rush behind their own blue line and ran it all the way to the right circle in Vegas territory, from where Bjork (no points in his previous 10 games) backhanded a pass to Heinen for a tap-in at the far post.
Subban’s indecision made the Bruins’ second goal possible. Fourth-line center Sean Kuraly, who hadn’t scored a point in his last 11 games, carried the puck with speed to red line before dumping it off the boards to Subban’s right. Subban stepped out of his crease to play the carom, changed his mind, fell forward, and left the puck for Jeremy Lauzon to swat into the unguarded net with 2:09 left before intermission. It was the first NHL goal for Lauzon, who was recalled from AHL Providence on Sunday morning to replaced injured defenseman Brandon Carlo.
The Bruins weren’t able to add to their lead despite a 5-on-3 power play that covered the last 1:31 of the first period (Subban took the second penalty for chopping David Pastrnak down in the crease), but did make it 3-0 in the first minute of the second, with a second of 5-on-4 time still left. Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland deflected passes by Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, but the B’s were able to keep the puck alive near the net long enough for Bergeron to slip a pass to Brad Marchand, who flipped his sixth goal of the season home at the 58-second mark.
The Golden Knights knocked the deficit down to 3-1 with 9:05 left in the second. Bruins defenseman John Moore lost control of the puck as he carried it out of the defensive zone, allowing Alex Tuch to turn it back quickly and find Dallas Eakin in the low slot for a goal. The B’s had another two-man advantage (42 seconds this time) inside the final five minutes, but didn’t score, but broke through on a 5-on-3 with 3:52 left in the game, when Pastrnak finished a Torey Krug pass.