Sean Kuraly's tiebreaking goal midway through the third period carried the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 Bridgestone Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., on Tuesday.
Kuraly broke a 2-2 tie when he backhanded in his fourth goal of the season at 10:20 after it bounced off fourth-line teammate Chris Wagner as Boston won the 11th Winter Classic in front of a sellout crowd of 76,126, the second-largest in event history.
Jonathan Toews hit the post with 1:37 left and with the Blackhawks' net empty, Brad Marchand scored into the empty net for the final margin.
David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and an assist, and Tuukka Rask made 36 saves in his 469th outing, setting the mark for most games played by a Boston goaltender.
The Bruins, who won their second straight, were playing in their third game in the elements and improved to 2-1-0. They played in two previous Winter Classics and both were on home ice -- at Fenway Park in 2010 and Gillette Stadium in 2016.
Brendan Perlini and Dominik Kahun tallied for the Blackhawks, who had won five of six, and Cam Ward stopped 32 shots.
The outdoor game was the sixth for Chicago (1-5-0) and its fourth Winter Classic (0-4-0). The Blackhawks' lone win was in the 2014 Stadium Series in a 5-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The contest was the NHL's sixth in Indiana -- and first since 1992 -- and Chicago has played in all of them, including a 3-2 loss to the Bruins at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis in 1954.
Perlini gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 first-period lead with a goal from the low slot after David Kampf's stick-lift of Torey Krug behind Rask's net and slick pass out front.
However, Pastrnak grabbed a pass from Bergeron and tied it at 1 four minutes later with his 24th goal on the power play.
Positioned in the right circle in the second period, Kahun redirected a long shot by Erik Gustafsson from the point at 11:24 as Chicago jumped ahead 2-1.
With Boston on the power play, Bergeron hustled to thwart a Kampf short-handed breakaway by lifting his stick. Bergeron soon tied it at 2 with a backhander and the Bruins still on the man advantage.
--Field Level Media
Boston | Chicago | |
Patrice Bergeron 2 | Points | Dominik Kahun 1 |
Patrice Bergeron 1 | Goals | Dominik Kahun 1 |
Patrice Bergeron 1 | Assists | Erik Gustafsson 1 |
Patrice Bergeron 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Tuukka Rask .947 | Save Percentage | Cam Ward .914 |
Tuukka Rask 36 | Saves | Cam Ward 32 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Boston | 36 | 4 | 2-5 | 4-4 | 8 | 29 |
Chicago | 38 | 2 | 0-4 | 3-5 | 10 | 37 |