BOSTON (AP) — Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and Reilly Smith scored two goals to lifting the Boston Bruins to a 5-0 rout of the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
The Bruins are 13-0-2 in their last 15 home games and have won eight straight in Boston. They haven’t lost there in regulation since Oct. 26.
Rask (20-8-2) has allowed one goal or fewer in 15 of his 30 starts this season. After earning only 19 wins last season, he is now the third goalie with 20 NHL wins this season.
Boston tied a club record, set in 1929, by having a player score two goals for the seventh straight game. Smith has done it three times.
Robin Lehner made 36 saves for Ottawa, which has dropped four of five.
Jarome Iginla beat Lehner with 3:31 remaining in the second when he slammed in a rebound of Torey Krug’s slap shot during a power play to make it 1-0. Ottawa dominated the first period, holding a 15-5 shot advantage, but Boston turned the tables in the second with a 20-8 edge. In addition to the 19 saves in the second period, Lehner was stung by Johnny Boychuk’s slap shot but stayed in the game.
David Krejci put Boston ahead 2-0 with a shot from the right circle 38 seconds into the third period.
Smith scored twice in the third period, giving him a team-leading 14 goals. Brad Marchand capped the scoring with a short-handed goal with 27 seconds remaining.
The teams will complete the home-and-home series on Saturday at Ottawa.
NOTES: Bruins LW Daniel Paille returned after missing seven games because of a concussion.. Ottawa is one of three teams that has never swept Boston in a season series. … The previous 10 games between these teams had been decided by two goals or less. . Boston scored on four straight power plays after going 3-for-3 against Nashville on Monday. . Patrice Bergeron added two assists for Boston, which has outscored its last three opponents 15-3.
-
- Ottawa Senators’ Cory Conacher (89) and Milan Michalek (9) battle Boston Bruins’ Dennis Seidenberg (44) for the rebound off Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Send questions/comments to the editors.
