David Krejci breaks tie, Bruins beat Wild 4-2
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Krejci broke a tie in the second period and Jonas Gustavsson made 31 saves to help the Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Saturday.
Krejci added an assist in Boston's sixth straight road victory. The Bruins are second in the NHL with 39 road points.
Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston. Marchand has scored in six straight games and has 12 goals in his last 12 games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thomas Vanek and Mike Reilly scored for Minnesota. The Wild have lost seven in a row and 13 of 14. They tied the longest home winless streak in franchise history at eight games (0-5-3).
Darcy Kuemper made 15 saves for Minnesota.
Vanek tied it midway through the second period, getting a deflection off of Gustavsson for his first goal in 11 games. Krejci countered 35 seconds later after a Minnesota breakdown/
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Pastrnak started the rush for Boston with two Wild defensemen caught in the offensive zone. Pastrnak passed across to Krejci. Krejci's shot hit Minnesota's Nino Niederreiter, who went crashing into the net.
Officials credited Krejci with the goal following a replay, with the puck seemingly entering the net as it was knocked off the moorings by Niederreiter.
Marchand scored his 27th goal of the season short-handed in the first, marking his 19th career short-handed goal, the most of any player since Marchand entered the league in 2009-10. Eriksson finished the scoring in the third on a breakaway for his 200th career goal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the midst of their longest trip of the season, the Bruins are 13-3-3 in their last 19 road games.
The Wild are headed in the opposite direction. They haven't won at home since Dec. 28, the longest streak in franchise history since the team's first year of existence in 2001.
Minnesota was in playoff position at the end of December, holding the top Wild Card spot. The Wild have the league's worst record since the start of 2016 at 3-12-4 and have allowed at least four goals in seven of the past eight games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NOTES: Boston C Patrice Bergeron sat out because of an undisclosed injury. The team said he is considered day to day. Rookie C Joonas Kemppainen was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League. ... D Jared Spurgeon participated in the pregame skate but was held out of his third straight game for Minnesota with an unspecified deep bruise. ... Reilly's goal with 37 seconds remaining was the first of his career. ... The win gave Boston coach Claude Julien his 500th NHL victory. Julien is six wins shy of tying Art Ross for the lead among Boston coaches with 387.