Recap: Bruins dominate in 6-1 win over Blackhawks

The Boston Bruins capitalized on special teams with two power-play tallies and Charlie McAvoy’s four assists to decisively top the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1, tonight at the TD Garden.

Patrice Bergeron added a goal and assist in the win to now sit at 999 career points.

Brad Marchand also had three points and David Pastrnak had a two-goal night.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 4:53 of the first period on the power play.

Brad Marchand found David Pastrnak skating down low into the right-wing circle where he fed him a pass for a quick one-timer past Petr Mrazek’s glove. 1-0 Bruins.

Second period:

The Bruins took a two-goal lead at 4:28 of the second period.

Charlie McAvoy found Patrice Bergeron gliding through the slot and into the left-wing circle for a one-timer past Mrazek’s right skate. 2-0 Bruins.

The Blackhawks got one back at 10:37 of the second period on the power play.

In the slot, Jonathan Toews redirected Max Domi’s shot from the point past Jeremy Swayman’s blocker. 2-1 game.

The Bruins regained a two-goal lead at 18:10 of the second period with another power-play goal.

At the top of the paint, Jake DeBrusk redirected Marchand’s shot past Mrazek. 3-1 Bruins.

The Bruins cushioned their lead at 19:18 of the second period.

McAvoy started the play by finding A.J. Greer inside the right face-off circle where he fed a short pass to David Krejci also inside the circle for a one-timer past Mrazek. 4-1 Bruins.

Third period:

The Bruins added another goal at 11:12 of the third period.

Nick Foligno hit Pastrnak with a pass low at left-wing circle for a one-timer past Mrazek for his second tally of the night. 5-1 Bruins.

The Bruins capped off the win as Taylor Hall joined in on the scoring fun at 17:57 of the third period.

McAvoy kept the puck in the offensive zone and then quickly slid the puck to Matt Grzelcyk who found Hall up high. Hall threw a long shot on net that beat Mrazek. Final score: 6-1 Bruins.

Game notes:

• The Bruins are now 11-0-0 at home, which has already surpassed the franchise’s previous best home record to start a season. With tonight’s win, the Bruins are entering league records and are now tied for the most wins at home to start a season at 11 wins.
• SCOC spoke to Charlie McAvoy after the game about what it meant to help extend that home win streak. This is what McAvoy had to say: “It means a lot,” McAvoy said. “We are trying to worrying about ourselves in here. I think that’s part of any team - a good coach and identity. It’s never about what’s across the hall. It’s always about what’s in here and the standard we need to hold ourselves to do so. Tonight, I thought we did a good job and played well. When we needed to extend the lead, we did. And as all season, the goalies played great too.”
• McAvoy had a career high, four-point game in the win as one of the driving forces offensively tonight. Not only did he move the puck with ease throughout the zone, he also had six shots on net.
• When SCOC asked him about his offensive game, he talked about the things the team did well offensively. McAvoy said: “We played really well. I think we were possessing the puck well. We were trying to get Grade A chances. Every shot we were looking for, there was a purpose, using each other well, cycling the puck and trying to wear them down.”
• To say that was a dominant game from the Bruins feels like an understatement. The Bruins controlled basically every aspect of the game from the start. They didn’t give Chicago any room to possess the puck for long stretches of time, especially in the first period.
• The Bruins’ offensive zone coverage, again, dominated the Blackhawks. In the first period alone, the Bruins had 11 shots on goal to Chicago’s three.
• The Blackhawks’ time around Swayman was limited. In his first game back from injury, Swayman made 17 stops, giving up a power-play goal.
• The power play has now scored at least once in the last four games. Tonight, special teams added two goals to bring the total to capitalizing on seven of the last 16 man-advantages in that stretch. SCOC asked Marchand after the game what he felt was working on the power play right now.
• Marchand said: “You go through stretches where things go your way and when they don’t. Right now it seems like we’re getting bounces, but I think we are doing a really good job recovering pucks and second opportunities. When you have Jake and Bergy in there retrieving pucks and getting it back to Chuckie, Pasta and myself, we’re getting good second opportunities and that’s how most power plays have success. You don’t necessarily get one on the first shot, but the second and third opportunities so we’re doing a good job with that.”
• Patrice Bergeron’s two points on a goal and assist puts him at 999 career points. It’s a No. 1,000 point watch now.
• The Bruins hit the road for two games before Thanksgiving. They head to Florida for a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.