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Jonas Gustavsson made 31 saves as the Bruins earned their second straight victory, all while taking part in Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo's last game behind the Wild bench.
Yeo was dismissed from his position as head coach just hours after the game -- Minnesota's eighth straight home loss.
As for Bruins bench-boss Claude Julien, the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL, Saturday turned out to be a pretty special day. The colorful and adorable man with often vulgar and comical outbursts, picked up career victory number 500. Julien is the twenty-third coach in league history to reach the milestone, and now sits six wins behind Art Ross for first in Bruins franchise history.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand scored for the eleventh time in his last twelve games to open the scoring in the first period. The goal, shorthanded, was his 26th on the year and team-leading 4th shorthanded goal. Marchand now ranks sixth among NHL players in goals.
A Kevan Miller turnover lead to a goal from noted Bruins killer,Thomas Vanek, 11:13 into the middle frame. The turnover is Miller's 5,769th of the season.
David Krejci answered just 35 seconds later, potting a David Pastrnak feed by a sliding Nino Niederreiter, who in turn knocked the net off its moorings. The Swiss native and former New York Islanders property is not a goaltender, but rather a valuable third line forward. The call on the ice was a goal, and was confirmed after a brief official review.
Loui Eriksson picked up career goal number 200 on a breakaway 6:58 into the final period, giving the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Ryan Spooner picked up an assist on the goal and is now tied with David Krejci for the team lead in helpers (28).
Zdeno Chara capped off the Bruins scoring, flicking the puck from Terminal C of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and into Minnesota's empty net.
Wild rookie Mike Reilly picked up his first career goal with 37 seconds remaining. Minnesota fans who remained in the building clapped and said things like "cool" and "good for him." It was a nice moment.
Landon Ferraro was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
Boston returns to action today against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Puck drop is set for 3:30. The game will be televised on NBC.