The Boston Bruins, defending Eastern Conference champions, haven’t let the lack of a home game slow them down, kicking off their season with an undefeated road streak.
Brad Marchand scored two goals and added an assist, powering the Bruins to a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. Boston rallied from an early two-goal deficit, scoring four consecutive goals to notch its third straight win, marking the Bruins’ best season start in 18 years.
“We have a solid group and pretty much the same team as last year,” said Marchand, who now has three goals this season. “We’re competing every night. If we’re going to lose, it’s either because we had a really off game or another team battled harder, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
Boston (3-0-0) has outscored their Western Conference opponents, including Dallas, Arizona, and now Vegas, by a combined 7-3 margin. David Pastrnak and Torey Krug also found the net for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask made 31 saves to earn his 267th career win, moving him into 49th place in NHL history.
“It’s only been a short time since we last played together, so we’re comfortable on the ice,” said Rask. “Even though we were down early, we trusted our system, which paid off.”
The Bruins will wrap up their four-game road trip on Thursday against Colorado. They are now 4-1-0 all-time against Vegas.
Tuesday’s game exposed moments of disarray for the Golden Knights (2-1-0), who started the season with a sweep of their home-and-home series against San Jose. Despite goals from Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, and Max Pacioretty, Vegas couldn’t stop Boston’s relentless top line.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who also made 31 saves, fell to 12-8-5 in his career against the Bruins, with a .915 save percentage.
“Their defense has good gaps, and we didn’t adjust well enough,” said Stone. “We had our chances in the second period but couldn’t capitalize. A bounce here or there, and we’re back in it, but we have to clean up the mistakes.”
Vegas started strong with goals by Stone and Smith in the first 8:20 to take an early 2-0 lead. But Boston’s top line of Marchand, Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron quickly responded. Marchand put the Bruins ahead 3-2 just 33 seconds into the second period, giving Vegas its first deficit of the season, and Krug added to the lead with a slap shot that made it 4-2.
Vegas struggled offensively in the final period, not registering a shot on goal until 8:28 remained in the game. Pacioretty managed to cut the lead to one with a power-play goal, his first of the season, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
Game Notes:
- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played in his 1,488th career game, passing Wayne Gretzky for 23rd most in NHL history.
- Chara, 42, and San Jose’s Joe Thornton, 40, are the two oldest active NHL players. Both debuted in 1997 and are the only current players who played in the 1990s.
- The Golden Knights were among three teams that hadn’t allowed a power-play goal this season. Both Vegas and Carolina saw that streak end on Tuesday.
UP NEXT:
- Bruins: Continue their road trip at Colorado on Thursday.
- Golden Knights: Visit the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.