Bruins rebound from embarrassing losses with win over Hurricanes
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins aren't ready to let two embarrassing losses fade completely out of their minds with one victory.
Seth Griffith and Patrice Bergeron scored first-period goals, Tuukka Rask stopped 33 shots and the Bruins rebounded from the consecutive defeats with a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins had lost their past two games by a combined 11-2 on the road at Toronto and Montreal.
''I thought we were overall better,'' Boston coach Claude Julien said. ''What you've gone through the last two games, I don't think you're automatically going to turn the page. We've got to build ourselves back up there, and today was a good start.''
Behind a spirited effort with solid hits throughout most of the game, the Bruins bounced back from what they hope is the low point of the season.
''I think it's probably the most important part of going into today's game, was upping our competitive level, emotional level and physical play,'' winger Milan Lucic said.
''It was a good start getting back on track - as far as those things went. We've got to keep those things at a high level for us to keep winning hockey games.''
Jiri Tlusty scored for the Hurricanes, who lost their second straight after earning points in six consecutive games.
Cam Ward made 23 saves for Carolina, which had a fast start fade after allowing a bad goal in the first.
''That happens sometimes - the breaks go against you,'' coach Bill Peters said. ''The first one was a bit of a bad break.''
Trailing 1-0 midway into the first period, the Bruins benefited from a Hurricanes' mistake.
Hurricanes defenseman Andrej Sekera's flubbed a backhand pass to defenseman Justin Faulk in front of the net. The puck caromed back toward Sekera and trickled in off his skate. Griffith, forechecking tight on the play, was credited with the goal.
Ward lost his second straight after a five-game winning streak.
''We have to play the full 60 minutes,'' he said. ''You can't afford to have lapses in this game.''
Boston went ahead 2-1 when Bergeron slipped a wrist shot past Ward in the final minute of the first after collecting Brad Marchand's pass at the right circle.
Rask made the lead stand with a couple of good stops midway in the third, including a right-pad stop on a Victor Rask's rebound from in close.
The Hurricanes pulled Ward with just under 2 minutes to play, but didn't get any decent shots.
Boston had a goal waved off when Daniel Paille's shot slipped behind Ward, but Gregory Campbell was called for goaltender interference with just under 9 minutes left in the third. Ward also stopped Carl Soderberg on a clean breakaway with 2 1/2 minutes to play.
Tlusty tipped Faulk's shot over Rask's right shoulder, moving the Hurricanes ahead 1-0 at 7:05 of the first. Carolina outhustled the Bruins to a loose puck at least six times in the offensive zone before Eric Staal fired a pass from behind the net to Faulk at the right circle.
The Hurricanes had a two-man advantage for 1:44 in the first, but missed the net with a couple of high-quality chances and had just two shots on goal.
NOTES: Boston C David Krejci missed his fourth straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... Rask was pulled in the second period of his last start - Wednesday in a 6-1 loss at Toronto. ... Carolina RW Alexander Semin was out with an upper body injury. His next point will be the 500th of his career. ... The Hurricanes host San Jose on Sunday. ... The Bruins are off until Tuesday when they face St. Louis at home. ... Marchand collected his 100th career assist on Bergeron's goal.
