Bruins double up on Stars

[January 17, 2014]  DALLAS — After dropping three of their last four, the Boston Bruins wanted a result to feel good about. And in a game that was scoreless for almost 40 minutes, Boston received two-point performances (one goal, one assist) from center Patrice Bergeron, center David Krejci and left winger Milan Lucic in a 4-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

"First period was a good battle. Second period, we got a timely goal and I thought we were a really strong team in the third," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Krejci scored late in the second period and center Brad Marchand netted the eventual game-winner two minutes after Dallas tied the game in the third period.

Backup goaltender Chad Johnson made 32 saves for the win.

Four seconds before the second intermission, Krejci beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen over his blocker with a one-timer from the right circle. Lucic collected the puck in the corner after an attempted clearance by Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski went awry.

Lucic's pass was dead-on and Krejci finished with precision for his 10th of the season.

"You want to get out of that period," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought all we needed was a little better coverage and not allowing that pass out of the corner."

Dallas (21-19-7) tied it 1:18 into the third when left winger Erik Cole scored a power-play goal after a pass from center Tyler Seguin deflected in off his stick. Cole had been knocked to the ice by Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara in front of the Dallas goal and as he was getting up, Seguin's pass glanced off his stick and landed in the back of the net.

However, that lead lasted only two minutes as Marchand delivered the game-winner at 3:18 of the third, collecting his own rebound for his 12th of the season. Bruins center Patrice Bergeron started the sequence by poking the puck away from Cole in the corner.

Marchand collected the puck, skating in from the right side and after his initial effort was denied by Lehtonen, he poked in the rebound for the eventual deciding goal.

Lucic then added an insurance goal with 4:14 remaining in regulation when he deflected a long-range shot by Krejci in for his 13th of the season, a goal deemed valid after a quick review.

"Yeah, it was close," Lucic said. "I knew it was going to be really close and thankfully they called it on the ice. I was able to get a good tip there and ends up being a big goal."

The Stars cut it to 3-2 when captain and center Jamie Benn scored his 17th of the season with 1:11 remaining in regulation.

Lehtonen left the game with 1:13 remaining but was unable to find a third goal. Boston iced it when Bergeron added an empty-netter with 16 seconds remaining.

Boston (30-15-2) looked like they had taken an early lead thanks to center Gregory Campbell's fourth of the season. However, an official review determined that Campbell used a kicking motion in knocking the puck in after Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley was unable to clear the puck from in front of his own net.

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen made two big saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless. Lehtonen's first big stop came at 4:29 when he made a glove save on a slap shot by Bruins defenseman Torey Krug from the left circle.

Lehtonen also denied Boston center Marchand on a breakaway at 14:15 of the first with a pad save.

Johnson was cut under his left eye at 12:28 of the second period when Chara accidentally poked him in the eye while trying to make a play in front of the Boston net. Johnson received attention from one of the Bruins trainers and after a short delay to stop the bleeding, he was able to stay in the game.

Lehtonen stopped 37 shots for Dallas, who finished their three-game homestand at 1-2-0.

NOTES: Bruins RW Jordan Caron and D Dougie Hamilton (concussion) were scratched by Boston. ... C Dustin Jeffrey and D Aaron Rome (lower body) were scratched by Dallas. ... Boston G Chad Johnson got his first start in goal since Dec. 28 against the Ottawa Senators. G Tuukka Rask had started the past five games for Boston. ... Stars C Rich Peverley and C Tyler Seguin, both former Bruins, played their first home games against Boston since being traded to Dallas last July. ... Bruins LW Loui Eriksson and RW Reilly Smith, both former Stars, were playing their first game in Dallas after being traded to Boston for Peverley and Seguin last summer. ... Stars assistant coach James Patrick was absent from the Dallas bench after the death of his father in Canada. ... Ultimate Fighting Championship star Robbie Lawler was in attendance. ... Announced attendance was 16,890.

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