David Backes scored in the sixth round of a shootout to give the Boston Bruins their seventh consecutive victory, a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
Jake DeBrusk scored in the first round of the shootout for the Bruins but was matched in the next round by William Karlsson of the Golden Knights. After Boston goalie Jaroslav Halak made a pad save on Oscar Lindberg to begin the sixth round, Backes put a wrist shot past Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's glove and inside the right post for the game-winner.
Brad Marchand and DeBrusk scored goals for Boston, which improved to 9-0-3 since the All-Star break. Halak made 31 saves while improving to 7-0-2 against the Pacific Division this season.
Reilly Smith had a goal and an assist and Nate Schmidt also scored for Vegas. Fleury, making his NHL-leading 52nd start, finished with 25 saves but was denied for the fourth straight time at recording his 30th victory of the season.
DeBrusk gave Boston a 1-0 lead midway through the first period with his 19th goal of the season. He took a crossing pass in the slot from David Krejci and then spun around defenseman Shea Theodore before firing a shot past Fleury's glove side. It marked the fifth straight game in which DeBrusk scored a goal.
Vegas tied it just before the end of the period when Smith tapped in a rebound of a Cody Eakin shot for his first goal in 13 games and 10th of the season.
Marchand gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at the 1:09 mark of the third period, one-timing a pass from Danton Heinen from the high slot past Fleury's glove side. It was his fifth goal in seven games and also the 250th of his career.
However, Schmidt tied it up just 27 seconds later, taking a pass from Smith at center ice and then deking defenseman Charlie McAvoy inside the blue line before beating Halak with a forehand shot top shelf.
--Field Level Media
Boston | Vegas | |
Jake DeBrusk 1 | Points | Reilly Smith 2 |
Jake DeBrusk 1 | Goals | Reilly Smith 1 |
Danton Heinen 1 | Assists | Reilly Smith 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jaroslav Halak .939 | Save Percentage | Marc-Andre Fleury .926 |
Jaroslav Halak 31 | Saves | Marc-Andre Fleury 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Boston | 27 | 3 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 33 |
Vegas | 33 | 2 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 6 | 30 |