Bruins persevere, score late goals in win
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The way the opening couple of weeks have gone for the Boston Bruins, there was no reason to let a little mid-game glitch bring them down.
They went back to work in the third period and were rewarded when David Krejci collected a rebound and deposited the puck in the net with 1:50 remaining, breaking a tie and lifting the Bruins to a 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at PNC Arena.
"We came out strong in the third period and stuck with it," Krejci said.
Krejci made the play for his first goal of the season after teammate Nathan Horton's shot hit the post, pulling the Hurricanes out of position.
"David is not going to miss that," Horton said of Krejci's quick reaction from left of the net.
Tyler Seguin added an empty-net goal with 7.4 seconds to play.
The Bruins, one of four teams in the NHL without a loss entering the night, recovered after squandering a two-goal lead.
"We were still tied (going to the third period), so we knew we could win," Horton said. "We talked about that we were tied and not out of it. It was 20 minutes for a win."
Goalie Anton Khudobin, making his season debut, stopped 29 shots for the Bruins.
"He was pretty solid," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Got us a win."
In the second period, Horton danced through Carolina skaters from the neutral zone all the way to the front of the goal to beat goalie Cam Ward and propel the Bruins to a 3-1 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal scored 70 seconds apart to send the teams into the second intermission tied 3-3.
"We had that little lapse in the second period, but all-around I liked it," Julien said.
Skinner has a four-game goal streak.
By the third period, the Bruins re-established control of the game's flow.
"They gave us a lesson," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "It's a veteran team (for Boston) that has gone through these types of games. Teams like Boston aren't going to beat themselves."
Boston's Dougie Hamilton was credited with his team-high fourth assist on the tie-breaking goal.
Boston opened the scoring with Brad Marchand's short-handed goal less than 3 1/2 minutes into the game. Marchand leads the Bruins with three goals this season after producing his seventh career short-handed goal.
Less than three minutes later, Zdeno Chara's blast resulted in a power-play goal and a 2-0 edge for Boston. The puck went around traffic in front of the net.
Defenseman Jamie McBain responded for the Hurricanes later in the first period. That was the first first-period goal for Carolina this season.
Ward made a stop of Rich Peverley's short-handed breakaway in the second period, helping the Hurricanes withstand a rough stretch. That helped turn the tide.
"I thought we were getting momentum and starting to take the play," Muller said.
The Hurricanes had been outshot in only one of 14 periods this season until Boston held an 18-8 edge in third-period shots.
NOTES: Ward finished with 33 saves. ... For the third time in five games this season, the Hurricanes faced a team's No. 2 goalie. ... Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk was scratched with an upper-body injury sustained Friday night at Buffalo. ... Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid missed his first game of the season for personal reasons. He could be available for Tuesday night's home game against the New Jersey Devils. ... Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason and Boston left winger Milan Lucic picked up first-period fighting majors for their second consecutive games when they squared off. ... With the win, Julien moved into sole possession of third place on the team's career victories list. He began the night tied with Don Cherry at 231. ... The Hurricanes won all four meetings last season against Boston. "We still remember what happened last year," Horton said. ... The Hurricanes don't play again until Friday night's home game against Ottawa, marking one of three gaps on the Carolina schedule of three or more off days between games.
