By: Liz Rizzo | Follow me on Twitter @pastagrl88
The Boston Bruins dominated the entire weekend in back-to-back matchups against the Minnesota Wild and the Buffalo Sabres. They are now 7-3 -0 in their last 10 games.
Boston would rally back to win 5-2 against the Wild Saturday afternoon and came away with a 7-0 shutout win in a Sunday matinee game against the Buffalo Sabres. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves against the Wild while Jeremy Swayman had his fourth shutout of the season with 26 saves.
A Wild Saturday
Brad Marchand has a three-point Saturday afternoon as the Bruins defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center ending the Wild’s 14-game point streak. The last time Minnesota lost in regulation was on February 15th.
It was a solid showing for the Bruins despite falling behind early on in the game when Marcus Johansson scored his 15th goal of the season at 9:45 in the first period. Jake Debrusk would tie the game at 1-1 wristing the puck past Filip Gustavsson.
The Wild looked to extend the lead however a coach’s challenge determined the play was offside. David Pastrnak gave the B’s a 2-1 lead as he scored his 47th goal at 8:34 in the second period during a power play.
Minnesota’s Matt Boldy tied the game at 2-2 however once again the play was determined offside due to key looks from the video coaches.
David Krejci made it 3-1 for Boston at 14:03 scoring off a loose puck that was poked by fellow linemate Pavel Zacha. Oskar Sundqvist would get the Wild within one goal as he scored the team’s second tally of the night, making it 3-2.
Patrice Bergeron would shut down any glimmer of hope for Minnesota as he scored his 25th goal giving the B’s a 4-2 lead. An empty-net goal by Trent Frederic sealed the win as the Bruins defeated Minnesota with a final score of 5-2.
Brad Marchand came away with three assists for the night; Pastrnak and Bergeron each had a goal and an assist. Goaltender Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in his 200th NHL game. For the 14th time in his career, Bergeron reached 50 points and is on the list alongside Ray Bourque and Johnny Bucyk.
Another milestone that the Bruins reached: It would be the 407th time both Bergeron and Marchand factored into the same goal (a score or an assist) in their careers, breaking the previous Bruins record of 406 set by teammates Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge.
Fallen Sabres
In their second back-to-back game, the Bruins traveled to Buffalo for a match-up against the Sabres this afternoon and showed no signs of fatigue as they completely dominated the game. With goals from different players, Boston defeated Buffalo 7-0.
Within 15 seconds of the first period, Patrice Bergeron opened up the scoring after a feed from Brad Marchand. Garnet Hathaway scored his second goal as a Bruin making it 2-0 after a pass from Jakub Zboril. Jake DeBrusk ripped the puck past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after a Charlie Coyle feed making it 3-0.
After a sequence started by Bergeron and a center pass by Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm would score his 10th goal of the season, giving the B’s a 4-0 lead. The Bruins extended the lead to 5-0 as David Pastrnak scored his 48th goal during the power play.
Moments later Charlie Coyle made it 6-0 as he slapped the puck in, scoring his 13th of the season. As time ticked away with little hope for a Sabres’ comeback, Charlie McAvoy gave the Bruins their seventh goal of the night. DeBrusk came away with four points today with a goal and three assists; Bergeron had three points tonight while Marchand tallied two points. Pastrnak scored his second goal in back-to-back games. Both Connor Clifton and Charlie Coyle each tallied two points this afternoon.
Jeremy Swayman ended the game with his second straight shutout with 26 saves while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for the Sabres who have fallen 33-30-6. They have now lost three straight games and are 2-7-2.
NEXT GAME: Boston Bruins versus the Ottawa Senators at the TD Garden with puck drop after 7:00 PM
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