Boston, MA (Sports Network) – Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist and was one of 12 Boston players with at least one point, leading the Bruins to a 6-3 win over Dallas on Thursday in a game that turned prickly early on.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead in a first period that was marred by four fights, including three bouts in the first four seconds of the game.
Milan Lucic and Bergeron tallied on Boston’s first two shots, chasing Stars goaltender Andrew Raycroft from the game. Bergeron scored again midway through the period and Shawn Thornton tallied later for the big lead.
Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand added goals in the third period, icing the game for the Bruins after Dallas had pulled within 4-3. Marchand had two assists and Mark Recchi added three helpers to join Bergeron with three points in the game.
Tuukka Rask earned the win with 30 saves on 33 shots.
Karlis Skrastins, Brenden Morrow and Brad Richards scored for the Stars, who have lost two straight and four of their last five on the heels of a five-game winning streak. Kari Lehtonen took over for Raycroft and allowed three goals on 32 shots.
The game’s first fight, between Boston’s Gregory Campbell and Dallas’ Steve Ott, came on the opening faceoff. Thornton battled Krystofer Barch after that, and Boston’s Adam McQuaid knocked Brian Sutherby down with a right. A few minutes later, Boston’s Andrew Ference took down Adam Burish in the period’s fourth fight.
Lucic beat Raycroft from in close just 35 seconds into the game and Bergeron scored his first goal on Boston’s next shot. Bergeron then beat Lehtonen at 9:35 and Thornton made it 4-0 with a nice slap shot that he roofed from the right circle at 16:01.
Skrastins got Dallas on the board midway through the second period, taking advantage of a Boston line change with a wrister from the slot for his first goal in 14 games.
A couple minutes later, Boston’s Daniel Paille was whistled for a game misconduct for a hit he delivered on Raymond Sawada in the Dallas zone. Paille blind-sided Sawada, ducking his shoulder and catching a piece of the forward’s head on a hit that sent Sawada to the ice in a heap.
The Stars then mounted a failed comeback bid in the third period. Morrow scored a short-handed goal on a wrister 45 seconds in, and Richards beat Rask with a one-timer to make it 4-3 at the 3:33 mark.
But Sequin slid a shot past Lehtonen from the right circle less than two minutes later for a two-goal lead and Marchand scored on an empty net in the final minutes to seal the win.
Moments before Marchand’s goal, Bergeron missed the empty net from near the right circle, missing out on a hat trick.
Both teams are in first place, with the Bruins topping the Eastern Conference’s Northeast and Dallas leading the Western Conference’s Pacific Division…Boston started a four-game homestand that will also include visits from San Jose, Montreal and Detroit…The Bruins have won three straight in the series…The Stars will travel to play at Philadelphia on Saturday before they return to Dallas for a three-game homestand.