BOSTON (AP) — Jarome Iginla scored two goals, Tuukka Rask stopped 33 shots, and the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to nine games with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.
The Bruins increased their conference lead to five points over idle second-place Pittsburgh by posting their longest since a 10-game run in November 2011. Boston is 12-1-2 in its last 15 games.
Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith also scored for Boston, which beat the Wild at home for the first time after losing the first six meetings. The Bruins are 3-10 overall against the Wild, who began play in the 2000-01 season.
Jason Pominville had the only goal for Minnesota, which lost for the fifth time in six games, but three of those defeats came in shootouts. Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves, but let in a weak goal on Iginla’s first of the game.
The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 3:52 into the second period when Iginla scored. His shot was blocked by the stick of defenseman Jonas Brodin and popped into the air. Kuemper appeared to lose sight of the puck and it bounced between his pads just before he dropped.
Iginla was smiling along the boards when his teammates came to congratulate him. Iginla added an empty-netter, his team-leading 25th goal, with 65 seconds to play.
About 2 1-2 minutes after Iginla’s first goal, Rask robbed Mikko Koivu with a glove stop on a shot from in front. He also made a right-pad save on Nino Niederreiter’s shot from the left circle with just over 2 1-2 minutes left in the game.
Boston made it 2-0 at 11:55 when Carl Soderberg circled the net and sent a backhanded pass across the crease and through a group of players to Eriksson, who one-timed it into the net.
Pominville cut it to 2-1 with 1:26 left in the second. He unloaded a slap shot, and the blade of his stick broke. It flew toward Rask as the puck sailed by his glove inside the near post.
Smith scored off the rebound of Bergeron’s shot, making it 3-1 at 7:50 of the third.
NOTES: Bruins defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara will turn 37 on Tuesday. … Boston D Johnny Boychuk missed the game because of a lower-body injury. He went into the boards awkwardly Saturday in a win against Carolina and was helped to the bench, favoring his right leg. He returned and blocked a shot with that leg on his next shift and went to the bench slowly again. He tested the leg Monday morning and said it was too sore for him to play. … The Bruins have never scored a power-play goal against the Wild, going 0 for 36. Boston had no power plays in the game. … Iginla became the 55th player and the fifth active one to play in 1,300 games. … The Bruins will open a three-game trip at New Jersey on Tuesday. … The Wild will play the second of a three-game trip at the New York Islanders on Tuesday. … In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the Bruins wore green jerseys during warmups that will be auctioned off.
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