Bruins 6, Hurricanes 2: Brad Marchand scored twice while Rich Peverley and defenseman Andrew Ference each recorded a goal and an assist as Boston extended its home point streak to nine games (8-0-1).
Jordan Caron and Nathan Horton also tallied, blue-liner Dennis Seidenberg collected three assists and Tuukka Rask made 40 saves for the Bruins, who climbed within one point of first-place Montreal in the Northeast Division.
Patrick Dwyer and Drayson Bowman scored 45 seconds apart midway through the third period for Carolina, which has lost five in a row and fell to 1-11-1 in its last 13 contests. The Hurricanes remained eight points out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 10 games remaining.
Peverley opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game when he chased down his own rebound behind the net and tucked it inside the left post. Marchand buried a loose puck in the crease at 7:58 of the first period to double the lead and chase Justin Peters, who stopped only half of the four shots he faced.
Marchand completed his second two-goal performance of the season against Dan Ellis (28 saves) with 2:40 remaining in the period, and Ference and Caron increased the advantage to 5-0 in the second. Horton capped the scoring for the Bruins with 3:04 to play in the third.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bruins C Chris Kelly returned to the lineup after missing 14 contests with a broken left tibia. ... The Hurricanes have been outscored 23-3 in the second period over their last 13 games. ... Seidenberg's three-point effort matched a career high. He notched three points twice before, most recently on April 7, 2009 (one goal, two assists) against the New York Islanders while with Carolina.
Carolina | Boston | |
Drayson Bowman 1 | Points | Dennis Seidenberg 3 |
Drayson Bowman 1 | Goals | Brad Marchand 2 |
Brett Bellemore 1 | Assists | Dennis Seidenberg 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Dan Ellis .875 | Save Percentage | Tuukka Rask .952 |
Dan Ellis 28 | Saves | Tuukka Rask 40 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Carolina | 42 | 2 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 4 | 39 |
Boston | 36 | 6 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 35 |