WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- As left winger Brad Marchand goes, so, too, do the Boston Bruins.

The slight but slick left winger scored his 26th goal of the season and added an assist to guide the Bruins to a 6-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

Marchand snapped a 2-2 tie with just 1:15 left in a wild first period, collecting a pass from right winger Brett Connolly at center ice, darting past defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and then lifting a backhand over the shoulder of goalie Connor Hellebuyck to give the Bruins a lead they would not relinquish.

Boston (29-19-6) rebounded nicely from one of their worst losses in nearly a decade, a 9-2 home-ice defeat Tuesday night at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings.

The Jets (24-27-3), meanwhile, failed to win a third game in a row for the eighth time this season.

Marchand, 27, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has scored in five straight games, and has 11 goals in his last 11 contests. His career high for goals in a single season is 28, registered during the 2011-12 campaign.

He also set up center Patrice Bergeron's 20th goal of the season at 1:38 of the first period.

That trio was definitely clicking as Bergeron added his 21st in the third period, while Connolly supplied three assists. But Marchand, considered by many as the NHL's premier agitator, is the spark that ignites the Bruins on most nights.

"(Marchand) means a lot," said Boston bench boss Claude Julien, who is now just a win shy of 500 for his NHL coaching career. "You see what he does. He's a good penalty killer, he's a great goal scorer and he's also good on the power play. He's been really good as of late. Any chance he buries.

"He's been a real sparkplug for our hockey club. He keeps us alive, and when you play with that kind of confidence and you have that much skill and speed, it makes for a pretty good player."

Bruins right winger Loui Eriksson notched his 17th of the season, sandwiched between Jets center Bryan Little's 17th and right winger Nikolaj Ehlers' 12th of his rookie campaign.

Boston led 3-2 after the first and second periods.

Right winger David Pastrnak notched his fifth goal of the season 35 seconds into the third period to give the visitors a two-goal cushion, and right winger Jimmy Hayes scored his 12th into an empty net with 4:48 left to make it a blowout.

The Bruins are 16-3-3 when Marchand lights the lamp and are 23-4-4 when he records at least a point.

"He's playing really well right now. It's obvious he's very confident and making good plays," said Connolly. "When he's skating and moving his feet and confident, he's a very hard player to knock of the puck. Right now, he's playing very, very good. He's been arguably our best player for a while now and he continues to score now. It's impressive."

Marchand preferred to laud the play of his linemates.

"Bergy and Conns have been playing great. All three goals our line was on for, they won battles and competed hard and made really good plays," he said. "I think I'm just benefitting from that."

Marchand said the Bruins displayed tremendous character, putting in a solid 60-minute effort after the smacking they took just two nights before.

"I thought we had a really good game. Not only did we outscore them by a lot, I thought we just played a very sound game," he said. "Whenever they scored a goal to come back, we bounced back. We didn't panic. And we did a really good job of having that killer instinct in the third period, so I'm really proud of the club today."

Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in goal for Boston, while Hellebuyck stopped just eight of 11 shots before being replaced by Michael Hutchinson. He blocked 25 shots in 40 minutes of relief.

Midway through the second period, Winnipeg was actually outshooting Boston 30-15 but then got blitzed in the final 28 minutes.

"They turned it up to a level that we weren't able to get to in the second half of the game. That was the difference," summed up Jets right winger Blake Wheeler, who had two assists.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice was even more succinct when asked how the Bruins were able to turn the tables.

"The simplest thing is they got faster and we got slower," he said.

Winnipeg opens a four-game road trip Saturday night in Edmonton before heading southeast for games against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

The Bruins continue their longest road trip of the season, a six-game trek with stops in Minnesota, Detroit, Columbus, Nashville and Dallas.

NOTES: Boston C Landon Ferraro and D Colin Miller were healthy scratches, while C Chris Kelly (broken leg) and D Adam McQuaid (upper body) remain sidelined. ... Winnipeg G Ondrej Pavelec (knee) is days away from returning to the team. The hosts did not dress D Paul Postma, D Adam Pardy and RW Anthony Pelusa, although all are healthy. ... Jets RW Drew Stafford returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension Tuesday night. ... Bruins C Max Talbot celebrated his 32nd birthday Thursday. ... Winnipeg D Dustin Byfuglien, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Jets on Monday, played over 28 minutes in his 390th game with the club Tuesday in St. Louis. ... Boston's 9-2 loss to Los Angeles on Tuesday was the most goals the team has allowed in a game since March 3, 2008 at Washington (10-2 loss). ... The Jets have seven players with 12 or more goals this season, tied with the Capitals for the most in the league.