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 "I didn't even know that I was close to that milestone,"
Bergeron, 29, said with a smile. "It was people on the bench that
told me, and they got the puck. I never thought starting (in the
NHL) as an 18-year-old that I was going to score 200, so it's
definitely nice."
Just about everything was nice for Boston in a 6-2 rout of the
Chicago Blackhawks. Bergeron led the way with a goal and two assists
for Boston, which set a season-high in goals. The Bruins (29-21-9)
snapped a six-game winless skid with their first victory since Feb.
7.
Center Jonathan Toews and left winger Bryan Bickell scored for
Chicago. The four-goal losing margin matched the most lopsided
defeat of the season for the Blackhawks (35-20-5).
"I felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us,"
Toews said. "We didn't get the penalty kills that we needed. Our
power play didn't give us the energy that we needed in the second
period, and it just fell apart after that. It was unfortunate."
Meanwhile, the Bruins hoped that the blowout win could lead to a
more positive streak. Boston went 9-1-4 from Dec. 29 to Jan. 31,
only to stagger to a 1-5-2 mark in the next eight games.
 Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara said he and his teammates were happy
to close the book on a five-game road trip in which they went 1-2-2.
"The road trip as a whole, I think, we are not happy about it,"
Chara said. "We got four out of 10 possible points. Sometimes,
that's the way it goes. We just have to make sure we bring the game
that we played today against Chicago to our next game at home."
The Bruins pulled away with four goals in the second period by left
winger Milan Lucic, center Gregory Campbell, defenseman Dougie
Hamilton and center Reilly Smith. Along with Bergeron, right winger
Loui Eriksson scored in the first period.
Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 26 of 28 shots to improve to
24-15-9. He was whistled for two penalties late in the first period,
including a slashing penalty for swinging his stick into the
midsection of left winger Kris Versteeg after allowing the goal by
Toews.
Rask said he did not intend to slash Versteeg.
"I'm sure it's pretty obvious that I tried to slash the post," Rask
said. "That's what I thought I did. Stay out of the crease."
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford allowed four goals on 14 shots
before he was replaced with 7:41 remaining in the second period.
Goaltender Antti Raanta stopped 14 of 16 shots.
The Blackhawks have allowed 10 goals in their past two games, both
of which were losses on home ice.
"I think we have the right group here to get ourselves out of it,"
right winger Patrick Kane said.
[to top of second column] |
Bergeron gave Boston a 1-0 lead three minutes after the opening
faceoff. Smith spun past Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith and
flipped a backhand pass to Bergeron, who buried a one-timer from the
left of the crease.
Boston increased its lead to 2-0 on a power-play goal by Eriksson
with 5:57 remaining in the first period. Eriksson redirected a shot
from the left circle by defenseman Torey Krug for his 14th goal.
The Blackhawks trimmed the deficit to 2-1 when Kane found Toews for
a power-play goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in the period.
Lucic extended Boston's lead to 3-1 when he punched a shot past
Crawford with 13:42 to go in the second period.
Campbell scored six minutes later to make it 4-1, prompting
Crawford's early exit.
Hamilton gave the Bruins a 5-1 lead on a wrist shot with 2:33 left
in the second period. Smith added a goal with 3.1 seconds remaining
in the second period to increase Boston's lead to 6-1.
Bickell capped the scoring with 5:42 remaining in the third period.
NOTES: Bruins C David Krejci missed the game because of an
undisclosed injury that he sustained Friday against the St. Louis
Blues. Krejci, 28, has seven goals and 19 assists in 38 games this
season. ... Blackhawks LW Daniel Carcillo returned to the lineup
after a three-game absence as a healthy scratch. ... Bruins C Ryan
Spooner replaced Krejci in the lineup. Boston recalled Spooner on
Saturday from their AHL affiliate in Providence. ... Blackhawks RW
Ben Smith was a healthy scratch for the second time in the past five
games. ... Boston played its third consecutive game without D Kevan
Miller, who is expected to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
Miller leads the team with a plus-minus rating of plus-20.
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