Bruins nip Coyotes; Julien wins 300th with Boston

Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots, as Boston clipped Phoenix, 2-1, at TD Garden.

Zdeno Chara and Jarome Iginla tallied for the Bruins, who extended their season-high win streak to seven games.

Claude Julien also recorded his 300th win as Boston head coach. His record with the franchise over six-plus seasons stands at 300-161-61.

"It's not so much the streak, but it's the consistency which has marked each game which is impressive," Julien said. "I'm proud to have accomplished this (milestone) in Boston. I'm really looking forward to another 300."

Lauri Korpikoski provided the lone goal and Mike Smith made 18 saves for the Coyotes, who finished 2-2 on their four-game road swing.

Rask needed to make only two shots in the second period to maintain a 2-0 edge, but the visitors managed to make things interesting.

A floater from the point by Oliver Ekman-Larsson was tipped home by Korpikoski, and the Coyotes drew within 2-1 at 8:14 of the final stanza.

Boston's defense allowed 11 more shots in the third, but Rask was equal to all of them. Smith was summoned to the bench for an extra skater with 45 seconds left but his team couldn't find an equalizer.

The Atlantic Division leaders improved their record to 9-2-1 in the first game of back-to-backs and an incredible 10-2-0 in the second tilt.

Despite having to navigate through a snowstorm on the way home from Thursday's win in Montreal, the Bruins showed no signs of wear, beating Smith twice in the first period.

Chara's wrister rippled the net just shy of the six-minute mark, then Iginla was allowed space enough to tip in a Johnny Boychuk point offering with 2:29 remaining.

Rask kept his sheet clean by stopping Shane Doan on a breakaway just after the three-minute mark of the second.

"It would have been huge to beat a good team like Boston, and we had the chance. We just didn't play well enough," said Korpikoski.

Game Notes

Art Ross is the only other coach in Bruins history to eclipse the 300-win mark, recording 387 victories for the franchise from 1924-28, 1929-34, 1936-39 and 1941-45) ... Phoenix had won three in a row with Boston as the home team since Dec. 11, 2005 -- including a game in Prague, Czech Republic on Oct. 9, 2010 -- but the Bruins own a 22-7-4 overall record as the host against the Jets/Coyotes franchise ... Doan participated in his 1,300th NHL game, two ahead of Iginla.