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 Thursday night, the veteran right winger, acquired in the unpopular
deal that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas, came through with his third
career hat trick -- his first since Dec. 31, 2009 as a member of the
Stars-- to lead Boston to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
"He's not the same player as Tyler is, and the comparisons are not
right," coach Claude Julien said. "We shouldn't be comparing those
two players. They're two different players."
Eriksson worked a nifty give-and-go with center David Krejci 4:14
into the third to bring the hats down from the stands -- the goal
his team-leading ninth of the season. Krejci also assisted on the
first goal.
"It's definitely nice to get that ... it's been a while since I had
one so it was definitely nice to get the hat trick and, of course,
to win the game," said Eriksson, in his third season as a Bruin.
"That's the most important thing so it was definitely nice."
He has 17 points in 18 games this season.
"I'm feeling good and I feel like something always happens when I'm
standing in front," Eriksson said. "I have to keep doing that and
keep battling in front and try to get those goals in front.
The win evened Boston's record at 2-2 on its current five-game
homestand and raised the Bruins' home record to 3-6-1 -- just 9-8-1
overall. It was also only the second win in nine home games for the
Bruins against the Wild.
Left winger Brad Marchand scored the Bruins' first goal.
Backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, making his first home start with
the Bruins, stopped 24 shots to raise his record to 4-1.
"It's always a little special when you play your first game," he
said. "But actually when you're in there, out there playing, you're
so focused about what you're doing and you're not really thinking
about it. It's more before the game, but when you're out there you
just play."
Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who came in 0-4 with a 5.56
goals-against average and .854 save percentage against the Bruins,
made 33 saves in the loss.
Minnesota (10-5-3) finished a four-game road trip with a 1-2-1
record and three straight losses.
"We're not playing 60 minutes and that's the result," said Wild
center Mikko Koivu.
"Chasing. Chasing, that's for sure," said Wild coach Mike Yeo.
"Makes it tough. Makes it tough because you obviously -- you squeeze
the stick a little bit more, you force things a little bit more, you
use certain guys a little bit more. So we've got to find a way to
rectify this. It's one thing if it's one game but it's continuous;
it's game after game. It becomes a problem."
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Left winger Jason Zucker (on a rebound of a Koivu shot) and center
Jordan Schroeder (tip-in of a shot by defenseman Ryan Suter) scored
for the Wild, but Zucker was injured by a slash to the back of his
left leg by Boston left winger Matt Beleskey in the closing seconds.
He had to be helped off the ice, dragging the leg behind him.
There was no update on Zucker after the game, but Beleskey said, "I
did slash him but it wasn't ... didn't try to break his leg and I
don't think it did either, so hopefully he's OK."
Minnesota right winger Tomas Vanek, who came into the game with 30
goals and 63 points in 57 games against Boston, was kept off the
score sheet and was in the penalty box when the Bruins scored a
power play goal for the 10 time in the last 11 games.
Bruins rookie left winger Frank Vatrano left the game in the second
period with an apparent shoulder injury. He was slammed hard into
the end boards by Minnesota defenseman Nate Prosser, stayed down for
a few seconds as the play went the other way, then got up and slowly
skated to the bench, holding his hand up by his chest. He went
directly down the runway to the locker room.
NOTES: Minnesota D Marco Scandella, who suffered a lower-body injury
on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, was placed on injured reserve,
meaning he has to miss at least seven days and two games. ... The
Wild, who recalled D Gustav Olofsson from the minors, have been
dealing with injuries up front, with LW Zach Parise missing his
sixth game with a knee injury. ... The Boston defense got one Miller
(Colin) back but not the other Miller (Kevan), who will miss at
least four games with an upper-body injury. ... Wild D Nate Prosser
played in his 200th NHL game. ... With Scandella out, D Ryan Suter,
who came in averaging an NHL-high 27:26 per game, logged 32:26 in
the loss.
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