Bruins defeat Coyotes for third straight win

BOSTON -- Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist, and Riley Nash's first NHL shorthanded goal was the game-winner in the Boston Bruins' 4-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at TD Garden on Tuesday.
Tuukka Rask made 22 saves for Boston (33-24-6), which has won three in a row and is 7-1-0 since Bruce Cassidy took over as coach on Feb. 7.
Colin Miller and David Backes scored, and Patrice Bergeron had two assists for Boston, which tied the Ottawa Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division with 72 points. The Senators have two games in hand.

The Bruins, who just completed a 3-1-0 road trip, won their fourth straight at home. They hadn't played at home since Feb. 12.
WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Bruins highlights
"I think it's our resiliency," Cassidy said when asked what he liked best about the Bruins' performance. "There's situations where games, trap games they'll call them, where you come back off the road, that first game at home, can you sustain the energy level. I know it was sloppy out there at times, but we pushed through it. Our penalty kill really came through for us. But we got it back, a shorthanded goal. I think that gave us life, took some away from them. So I like that part of it."
Mike Smith allowed four goals on 14 shots and was replaced by Louis Domingue (11 saves) to start the third period for Arizona (22-33-7), which has lost three of its past four games. Smith missed the past two games because of an illness and allowed six goals on 29 shots in a 6-3 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks in his previous start on Feb. 23.
"I'm in a little funk right now and need to find a way to get out of it, get to work in practice and start playing like I'm capable of playing," Smith said.

Miller beat Smith at 3:06 of the first period with a wrist shot while cutting across the high slot to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
Coyotes forward Peter Holland scored on a wraparound during a power play at 3:27 of the second period to make it 1-1.
Nash's goal at 7:07 made it 2-1.
Backes and Marchand scored 1:44 apart later in the second period for a 4-1 lead. Backes beat Smith with a one-timer from the high slot after a pass from Marchand at 18:05. Marchand scored unassisted with 10.8 seconds remaining.

Coyotes forward Alexander Burmistrov left the ice on a stretcher after being hit by Miller with 16:11 left in the second period. Miller was given a five-minute charging penalty and a game misconduct.
Burmistrov, who gave a thumbs-up sign as he left the ice, was taken to a hospital for evaluation. He was released and rejoined his teammates.
"He was in a vulnerable position, but it's a hockey hit," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "Burmistrov's head is down. It's a hard hit. It's a hit that happens in hockey the odd time. You never like to see anybody get hurt, but I don't think it was an intentional hit to hurt somebody. It was a guy stepping up on a guy that was in a vulnerable position. Kind of caught him with his side. Sounds like he's going to be all right."

Goal of the game

Bergeron stripped Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the corner and passed the puck to Nash, who beat Smith with a wrist shot from the right hash mark.

Save of the game

After Rask stopped Shane Doan's 117-foot shoot-in, Brendan Perlini pounced on the rebound and drove the net. Rask kept Perlini's backhand shot out of the net at 13:33 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

After a giveaway by Tony DeAngelo at the Coyotes blue line, Marchand grabbed the loose puck, skated to the net and beat Smith on a wraparound.

Unsung performance of the game

Peter Cehlarik's net drive distracted Smith and provided the space for Miller to score his goal.

They said it

"I just want the guys to make sure they continue to play confident, solid hockey and believe in themselves, and play to a standard. We're trying to set a standard where we're one of the better teams in the National Hockey League. They've been there before, the leadership group, and that's what we're striving to get to again." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"Sure, I mean we can't really use that as an excuse. I think it's always tough to see but at the same time, we were on the power play after that ... so there's not really many excuses for us. We have to find ways to bear down when we have opportunities and we didn't tonight." -- Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun on regrouping after Colin Miller's hit on Alexander Burmistrov

Need to know

The Bruins have won their past 10 games against the Coyotes. Arizona hasn't defeated Boston since Oct. 9, 2010 in Prague. ... Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata's assist extended his point streak to 10 games. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in that span.

What's next

Coyotes: At the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-A PLUS,
NHL.TV
)
Bruins: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NESN, MSG,
NHL.TV
)