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Pavel Zacha scores twice as Bruins hang on late for a huge win over Wild
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- Pavel Zacha scores twice as Bruins hang on late for a huge win over Wild
BOSTON — The Bruins kept the Wild from clinching a playoff berth and gave their own postseason chances a healthy boost in the process.
Boston used a strong start and solid finish to overcome a couple of anxious moments in the third period to beat the Minnesota Wild , 6-3, on Saturday at TD Garden.
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The win allowed Boston to maintain their No. 1 wild card spot with nine games to go.
The Bruins have a quick turnaround. They’ll face the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Sunday at 5.
The Bruins came out aggressive and were rewarded for it. Andrew Peeke took a pass from David Pastrnak at the right point and walked in for a better look. He laser-beamed a wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle past Filip Gustavsson into the top left corner of the net to make it 1-0, 61 second into the game.
Mere seconds after Mark Kastelic and Michael McCarron went to the box for fighting, Pavel Zacha punched one past Gustavsson. Just 10 seconds after the scrap, Viktor Arvidsson carried the puck into the zone on a rush. When the defenseman committed to him, he slid the puck to Zacha, who one-timed it in with 6 minutes left in the first to make it 2-0.
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Another one-timer made it 3-0. Pastrnak fed Arvidsson, who was just off the extended goal line toward the left wing corner. Arvidsson drilled the tough-angle shot by Gustavsson to make it 3-0.
Jeremy Swayman made several big stops in the second period, but Kirill Kaprizov ended his shutout bid with 5:14 left in the frame to make it 3-1 at the second intermission.
Elias Lindholm continued his recent hot stretch to make it 4-1. He tapped in a Lukas Reichel pass early in the third for his third goal in the last four games.
The Wild made it interesting down the stretch.
Mats Zuccarello scored on a 5-on-3 to cut Boston’s lead to 4-2 and Ryan Hartman made it 4-3 with 6:16 left.
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But Pavel Zacha’s second goal of the game with 3:10 remaining created some much needed breathing room and Elias Lindholm added an empty-netter to make the score look more comfortable than it was.
Swayman finished with 32 saves.
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