Rask’s 36 saves help lift Bruins over Stars
Tuukka Rask made 36 saves, and Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist to lead the Boston Bruins past the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Hamilton assisted on Gregory Campbell’s second-period goal that broke a 1-all tie, then scored on a third-period power play.
Rask allowed the game’s first goal by Vernon Fiddler at 6:46 of the second. Former Stars forward Loui Eriksson tied it at 14:17 of the second before Campbell gave the Bruins the lead at 18:27.
Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves for Dallas, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Stars failed to score on any of their six power plays. They are 3 for 37 over the last nine games. During the same period, Boston has killed off all but two of 35 penalties.
Fiddler scored from the right face-off circle. He backhanded a shot that beat Rask on the short side when he missed catching the puck in his glove. Eriksson and Campbell scored late in the period to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins had dominated the first 10 minutes, outshooting Dallas 7-1. Campbell appeared to score with a shot that beat Lehtonen, but Jordan Caron was called for hooking before the shot.
The Stars took the final nine shots of the first period. The best scoring chance came when Rask stopped John Klingberg’s slap shot, and Jamie Benn couldn’t put in the rebound.
Late in the first period, the Stars lost left wing Erik Cole to an upper-body injury. Cole did not return.
In the second period, Boston had the first six shots on goal before Fiddler scored his sixth goal of the season in his 700th career NHL game. He hit the right post later in the period, but Rask stopped the 24 shots he faced after after giving up Fiddler’s goal.
Chris Kelly set up Eriksson’s goal. He passed across the ice to the left circle to Carl Soderberg, who backhanded a pass to Eriksson in the slot. Lehtonen couldn’t get back toward the left side of the net to stop the shot.
Campbell put in the rebound of Craig Cunningham’s shot at 18:27.
Dallas forward Colton Sceviour hit the the near post with a wrist shot from the left circle with 6:25 remaining in regulation.
The game was the Stars’ last before the All-Star break.
This story was originally published January 20, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Rask’s 36 saves help lift Bruins over Stars."