Marchand's goal lifts Bruins past Jets
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Brad Marchand had some fire in his belly.
The Boston Bruins sniper put a backhand shot over Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec's glove just 27 seconds after being tripped by defenseman Ron Hainsey to lift the Bruins to a 3-2 win at the MTS Centre on Sunday night.
"I was hoping for a penalty shot, so I was a little upset, but we were excited to be on the power-play," said Marchand of the infraction nine seconds into the third period. "We knew we could get some chances, and what happened was we scored."
The goal was Marchand's team-leading eighth tally and his fifth in six games.
The win snapped a mini losing skid for Boston (9-2-2), which was winless in two games after a three-game winning streak.
The loss sent Winnipeg (5-8-1) to its third defeat in a row, capping a pointless three-game homestand that saw the team fall to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Jets head coach Claude Noel was disappointed when discussing Marchand's torrid play to start the third, noting players should have been in better position to avoid both the penalty and then the goal.
"There were some breakdowns, like, for example, the power-play goal," Noel said. "It's a middle drive. That's a play we practice, we work on all the time. It should have been covered."
The Jets, who have been slow starters this season, couldn't hang onto a pair of leads. Alexander Burmistrov opened the scoring for Winnipeg 1:43 into the second period, taking a Zach Bogosian rebound and whacking it past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 22 stops. The assist was Bogosian's first point of the campaign after he was held pointless in his season debut, a 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday.
The Bruins knotted the contest at 1-1 when Tyler Seguin deflected captain Zdeno Chara's shot off Hainsey at 10:57 of the second period.
A last-minute flurry brought the second period to a close, as Evander Kane snapped an eight-game goalless streak by banging his own rebound past Rask with 26.5 seconds remaining in the second to put Winnipeg ahead 2-1. However, Boston pulled even with 1.5 seconds to go as Daniel Paille deflected Johnny Boychuk's point shot past Pavelec, who finished the game with 23 saves.
"Any time anyone scores in the last minute of a period, of any period, it's a big momentum shift," said Paille of his second goal of the season. "For us to come back and respond with another one right back, hopefully it got us going a little bit.
"Marshy (Marchand) came out flying there in the third period, and from there, we didn't look back."
Bruins head coach Claude Julien said Paille's marker changed the Bruins' mindset heading into the second intermission, and helped set the stage for Marchand's eventual winner.
"You give up a goal in the last minute and you think you're going to be coming to the dressing room down by a goal," he said. "This isn't an easy building to play in to start with, so it was disappointing when they took that 2-1 lead.
"To score that goal just gave us some more life."
NOTES: Jets defenseman Mark Stuart played his 400th NHL game. The Rochester, Minn., native began his career with Boston, playing 283 games for the Bruins, and was acquired by the Atlanta Thrashers in a trade on Feb. 18, 2011, a month before the franchise relocated to Winnipeg. ... Jets forward Blake Wheeler was acquired in the same deal, and he leads the Thrashers/Jets franchise in scoring against Boston since the beginning of the 2011-12 season with five points in five games. ... Jay Pandolfo, a 38-year-old Winchester, Mass., product and a veteran of 881 NHL contests with the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders, made his Bruins debut Sunday. ... The Bruins entered the night still seeking their first victory at the MTS Centre. Winnipeg's Bryan Little earned the winner in both Manitoba meetings last season -- a 2-1 victory on Dec. 6, 2011, and a 4-2 decision on Feb. 17, 2012. ... Sunday's game marked the end of a three-game homestand for Winnipeg, which will embark on a five-game road trip with dates against the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey and the New York Rangers. ... The game was the second of a five-game road swing for the Bruins, who lost 4-2 in Buffalo on Friday and will move on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and the Islanders.
