As it turns out, scoring three goals in less than a minute is a winning strategy!
The Bruins scored three goals in a 52-second span of the first period, added another in the second, then held off a late Vegas charge to earn a 4-3 win at TD Garden.
The first two goals of the game, one by Charlie McAvoy and one by Elias Lindholm, came just 30 seconds apart during a costly double-minor to Vegas’s Tomas Hertl.
David Pastrnak led the way on offense for the B’s, recording a goal and two assists.
Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves in the win. The Finnish netminder has won his last four starts and six of his last eight.
McAvoy got the scoring started just nine seconds into the aforementioned double minor, making it 1-0 Bruins.
Just 30 seconds later, Pastrnak found Lindholm with a great feed in the slot, making it 2-0 Bruins.
The Bruins grinders forced a turnover a few seconds after the ensuing puck drop, and Tanner Jeannot capitalized with great shot to beat Akira Schmid and make it 3-0 Bruins.
Pastrnak would get his goal midway through the second period off of a great pass from Nikita Zadorov, making it 4-0 Bruins.
Vegas got third period goals from Jack Eichel (0:31), Hertl (3:01), and Pavel Dorofeyev (17:25 with their net empty) to make it a game, but were unable to find a fourth.
Bruins win, 4-3!
Game notes
- After falling behind 6-0 in Dallas on Tuesday night, the Bruins decided to take the opposite approach on Thursday night and go ahead 4-0. It seems like that might be a better strategy. Thank you for reading my analysis.
- Per Judd Sirrott on the NESN broadcast, the Golden Knights came into last night’s game with one the best road penalty kills in the league, making B’s doubly successful power play even more impressive.
- While the recent (until Dallas) winning run was a team effort, Korpisalo has been quietly good for a while now. While he might like the Dorofeyev goal back, he made a few big saves early in the first period prior to the B’s goal-scoring outburst. While Korpisalo had his struggles earlier in the season, he has rounded into form of late.
- Lindholm and Morgan Geekie also had multi-point nights for the B’s, with Lindholm having a goal and an assist and Geekie having two assists.
- The B’s managed to hold Vegas to a 1-for-4 mark on their own power plays, an impressive feat against the league’s fourth-best power play.
The B’s will be back in action on Saturday night, hosting the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden.