DALLAS (AP) — Milan Lucic scored his first goal in 10 games and assisted on another goal to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
All of the scoring came in the final 20:04.
Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead.
Lucic passed from the right corner to David Krejci, whose goal gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 19:56 of the second period. Krejci also had a goal and an assist.
Dallas tied it at 1:18 of the third when Erik Cole tipped Tyler Seguin’s shot past Bruins goalie Chad Johnson. Boston took a 2-1 lead two minutes later, when Brad Marchand put in his own rebound.
Jamie Benn scored at 18:49 to pull Dallas within 3-2, but Boston’s Patrice Bergeron scored into an empty net with 16 seconds left.
Boston (30-15-2) took over sole possession of first place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division, pulling one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost to the New York Islanders in a shootout.
In losing for the seventh time in eight games, Dallas dropped to 21-19-7.
All seven losses have been against Eastern Conference teams.
Boston appeared to have a goal barely three minutes into the game, but a review of the play ruled that Gregory Campbell had kicked the puck past Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen.
The Bruins had a better chance to score some 11 minutes later. Boston was short-handed, but Brad Marchand had a breakaway. Lehtonen made
a pad save.
Dallas appeared to score from a scramble at 18:09 of the first, but a referee said he had blown his whistle before the puck crossed the goal line.
Campbell had another chance on a short-handed 2-on-1 rush, but the Stars’ Erik Cole hustled back to hit Campbell’s stick as he shot. During that power play, Dallas had a 5-on-3 advantage for the last 35 seconds of the first period but couldn’t score.
The period ended scoreless, but the Stars had an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal.
Boston took the upper hand in the second, with 11 of the first 12 shots.
The game was stopped a short time later when Boston’s Zdeno Chara inadvertently hit Johnson with a stick. Blood flowed from a cut near his left eye, but the goalie stayed in the game after receiving medical attention.
Krejci ended the scoreless tie with just 4 seconds remaining in the second on a shot from the right circle.
NOTES: The Bruins and Stars have completed their season series. Dallas won the game at Boston in a 3-2 shootout to finish 1-1; Boston was 1-0-1. … Stars assistant coach James Patrick missed the game because of his father’s death. Stephen Patrick played for the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. … Tennis player John Isner, who retired from his first-round match at the Australian Open, attended the game.
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