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National Hockey League
Boston 6, Dallas 3
When: 12:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 26, 2017
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Frederic L'Ecuyer, Mike Leggo
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Brian Mach
Attendance: 18006

DALLAS -- The Boston Bruins wanted to finish their four-game road trip with another victory, and thanks to three-point performances from both Patrice Bergeron, who had two goals and an assist, and Brad Marchand (goal, two assists), the Bruins recorded a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon at American Airlines Center.

David Krejci, Frank Vatrano and Ryan Spooner also scored for Boston (32-24-6), which received three assists from Torey Krug and two from David Pastrnak to finish its four-game road trip with a 3-1-0 mark. Tuukka Rask made 33 saves as the Bruins improved to 17-11-6 on the road.

"Yeah, I think we showed a lot of character during that road trip," Bergeron said. "It's not an easy trip. We're playing some big, heavy teams and a fast team with a lot of skills today, so it wasn't easy by any means. I thought we battled through it."

Jiri Hudler, John Klingberg and Tyler Seguin each scored and set up a goal for Dallas (24-28-10), which fell to 7-11-4 against the Eastern Conference.

"I thought we got off to a slow start, and really came on in the second period," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We'd really taken the momentum away from them and were dominating that period, but our defense struggled. Big mistakes have hurt us. We missed some sticks, our defense didn't tie up a couple guys. I thought that was probably the biggest difference in the game."

Marchand gave Boston an early lead with his 27th goal of the season just 5:56 into the game, one-timing a Bergeron pass into an open net from the left circle as Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen (22 saves) was slow to adjust.

Krejci made it 2-0 with his 16th of the season off a deflection 55 seconds after Marchand's tally. Krug took the initial shot from near the Dallas blue line, but Krejci redirected the puck with his stick.

Dallas stormed back with two unanswered goals to forge a tie midway through the second. Klingberg put the Stars on the board with his 10th of the season 4:40 into the middle frame, beating Rask far post with a wrister from the left point.

The Stars pulled level 8:11 before the second intermission when Hudler one-timed a Jamie Benn pass from the left circle for his third of the season with Dallas on the power play.

Boston regained its lead 22 seconds later when Vatrano scored his 10th of the season off a deflection. Bergeron then got his stick in front of a shot by Zdeno Chara 40 seconds later with 4:39 remaining in the second for his 15th of the season.

"Yeah, that's something that this team's done well for a little while now," Krug said of Boston's response after Dallas tied the game in the second. "They had a lot of speed in that first 10 minutes of the second period. We were able to limit that in the second (part of the period) and take over, and I think our guys did a good job responding."

The Bruins led 4-2 after 40 minutes.

Bergeron added a second goal 7:48 into the third period, scoring from the slot off a Marchand pass.

"Well, when your best players are your best players, you're a good hockey club," Bruins interim coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We're no different than any other team out there. He (Bergeron) has really found his game and hopefully he stays healthy for us."

Seguin made it 5-3 with his 22nd of the season off a rebound with seven minutes remaining. Spooner then scored his 10th of the season with 5:37 remaining with Boston on the power play.

NOTES: The Bruins scratched LW Matt Beleskey, D Colin Miller and D Joe Morrow. ... The Stars scratched LW Remi Elie, who was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Saturday afternoon, D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak. ... Scouts from the Blue Jackets, Hurricanes, Islanders, Kings, Lightning, Oilers and Predators were in the press box. ... Former Bruins and Stars C Rich Peverley, who experienced a career-ending cardiac episode on the ice in Dallas in March 2014, performed the ceremonial puck drop along with a young Dallas-area resident whose life was saved by an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) device. ... Stars D Johnny Oduya was activated off injured reserve Sunday morning. Oduya, a possibility to be dealt prior to Wednesday's NHL trade deadline, had missed the past 15 games with an ankle injury.
Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Dallas
Patrice Bergeron 3 Points Jiri Hudler 2
Patrice Bergeron 2 Goals Jiri Hudler 1
Torey Krug 3 Assists Jiri Hudler 1
Ryan Spooner 1 Power Play Goals Jiri Hudler 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Tuukka Rask .917 Save Percentage Kari Lehtonen .786
Tuukka Rask 33 Saves Kari Lehtonen 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 28 6 1-2 1-2 14 39
Dallas 36 3 1-2 1-2 14 27
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Stars have a W/L % of .240 after a win and .486 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Arizona. The Bruins have a W/L % of .469 after a win and .567 after a loss.