Bruins Score Four Unanswered To Beat Oilers 4-1
The Boston Bruins picked up their third win in a row on Thursday night, topping the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 at TD Garden. Connor McDavid drew first blood for Edmonton just 3:43 into the first period, but the B’s scored three unanswered later in the frame.
After his goal, McDavid was mostly held in check by Bruins defenders. He finished with the score and four shots. The B’s ended up outscoring the Oilers 32-26 on the night, as Jaroslav Halak earned his second win of the season with 25 saves.
Boston went 2-for-4 on the power play, an encouraging development in the absence of PP dynamo Torey Krug. After falling completely flat in their season-opening loss, the B’s have now won three straight by a combined score of 14-4.
Highlights
McDavid made Zdeno Chara pay early on when the superstar center caught the defenseman spinning in the neutral zone. McDavid gained the puck then blew by Chara, leaving the defenseman in the dust on the way to firing one through Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak.
However, the Oilers’ lead was short-lived – and the Bruins have a dynamic young scorer of their own. David Pastrnak answered later in the first with what should go down as one of the best goals you’ll see all season. He beat multiple Oilers defenders with an eye-popping toe drag through his legs then lifted a backhand over Cam Talbot to tie the game 1-1.
From there, the Bruins only continued to gain momentum and cash in on it. Brad Marchand got some serious puck luck on the next tally, as his cross-ice pass attempt careened off the skate of the Oilers’ Drake Caggiula and fluttered all the way past Talbot to make it 2-1 Bruins.
Winger Joakim Nordstrom, who was moved up to the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, scored his first as a Bruin just 36 seconds after Marchand to bust open a two-goal lead for Boston. Nordstrom executed a workmanlike give-and-go with Krejci, who fed it back to Nordstrom as he crashed the net and tipped it in to extend the Boston lead to 3-1.
Play was momentarily halted late in the second period after Bruins center Sean Kuraly buried Benning with a body check against the glass, which popped the whole panel out of place. Somehow, the glass didn’t shatter Milan Lucic-style.
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The teams went without a goal in the third period, until Patrice Bergeron added an empty netter for his fifth goal of the young season.
Up Next: The Bruins get the Detroit Red Wings next at TD Garden on Saturday. The game has been rescheduled to 3 p.m. in order to avoid conflicts with the Boston Red Sox, who are playing Game 1 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros on Saturday night.
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