Marchand lifts Bruins over Wild in OT, 2-1
Brad Marchand scored his fifth overtime goal of the season and Tuukka Rask made 24 saves as the Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in NHL action Sunday night in St. Paul, Minn.
Marchand, sprung by Torey Krug, zipped down the wing and ripped a top-corner shot past Wild goalie Alex Stalock 28 seconds into overtime to stun the Xcel Energy Center faithful.
Marchand finished with a goal and an assist, giving him a five-point weekend in which he had a hand in all five goals over two games. He tied the record for most overtime goals in one season, also held by Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Toews and Alex Galchenyuk.
Proving low-scoring games aren't always dull affairs, the Wild and Bruins provided plenty of entertainment. The hosts mustered just one shot through the first 10 minutes, but made up for it going forward only to see Rask provide all kinds of big stops, notably against Ryan Murphy and Matt Cullen.
The Bruins received a boost with Patrice Bergeron returning after missing 13 games due to a fractured foot, and he showed his value setting up David Pastrnak to break a scoreless deadlock 3:15 into the second period. Kevan Miller made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and soon after, Bergeron made a no-look pass across the slot, where Pastrnak one-timed a shot past Stalock for his 30th goal of the season.
Mikko Koivu finally solved Rask at 9:20 of the third period to tie the game 1-1. Koivu deflected Matt Dumba's point shot wide of the net, but the puck bounced back to the front of the cage, where he pounced on it.
The Bruins are trying mightily to reel in the Tampa Bay Lightning for top spot in the Atlantic Division. Boston trails by two points, has a game in hand and won both meetings with Tampa this season, in regulation time, with two more remaining on the schedule.
The Bruins also benefited from Krug returning after missing two games due to an upper body injury, but they're still without forwards David Backes, Rick Nash and Jake DeBrusk and defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy.
Stalock stopped 26 shots for Minnesota.
--Field Level Media
