Bruins' Julien matches franchise record in win vs. Blackhawks

BOSTON-- Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien tied Art Ross for the most wins in franchise history with 387, and Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on Thursday.
Julien is in his ninth season with Boston. His record with the Bruins is 387-215-85. Ross was 387-290 with 95 ties in 17 seasons behind the Bruins' bench.

"The thing that comes to mind is humbling," said Julien, who is 506-301-10-108 in his career, including parts of three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and 79 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2006-07. "It really is humbling because this guy here, I said that before, he's an icon, he's a legend. I don't have a trophy named after me. Those are all things that there's a big difference between Art Ross and myself, and the fact that I've avoided being fired for the last nine years helps get that many wins here. So [I] just feel fortunate and most of all obviously humbled by that achievement.
Ryan Spooner and Loui Eriksson also scored and Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for the Bruins (36-23-6), who won consecutive home games for the first time since Dec. 16-20. The Bruins defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Tuesday.
Jonathan Toews and Tomas Fleischmann scored for the Blackhawks (40-21-5) and goaltender Scott Darling made 21 saves. Chicago had won back-to-back games, including a 5-2 road victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.

"I think we got better and better as the game went along, but obviously we just had some breakdowns tonight," Toews said. "They were playing with speed and they were playing physically and we couldn't quite keep possession of the puck long enough to get anything going. They checked us well, and you know we didn't use our bodies."
It took Bergeron 1:18 to get the Bruins on the board first. He was tripped while chasing the puck deep in the Chicago zone but got up and won the race to the puck, and then circled the net before beating Darling with a wrist shot high to the short side from the bottom of the left circle for a 1-0 lead.

The Bruins were outshooting the Blackhawks 8-1 before center Noel Acciari took the first penalty of the game. The Blackhawks tied the game 1-1 on the ensuing power play when Christian Ehrhoff took a shot from the blue line and Andrew Ladd slid the rebound to Toews, who scored his 23rd of the season at 14:14. Ladd's assist extended his point streak to six games.
The Bruins took a 2-1 lead 21.3 seconds before intermission when Marchand beat Darling from the top of the left circle with a wrist shot for his team-high 33rd goal. The Bruins didn't let the Blackhawks catch them the rest of the game.

"It was a great game," Bergeron said. "The execution was great. I thought from the first minute on, till the end of the game, we were on our toes, limiting their transition game and their speed ... I thought it was a solid effort from everyone."
Spooner made sure the Bruins' first power play was productive. After Ladd was called for high sticking at 2:25, Bergeron won the faceoff back to defenseman Torey Krug, who dished the puck to Spooner for a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Darling at 2:31 for a 3-1 lead. It was Spooner's first goal in 13 games.

After killing off Chicago's second power play, the Bruins extended their lead to 4-1. David Krejci blocked a shot high in the Boston zone and sent the puck ahead to Eriksson, who scored on a redirection at 15:24 after a give-and-go with newly acquired defenseman John-Michael Liles.
Fleischmann cut the lead to 4-2 with 49.1 seconds remaining when he beat Rask with a wrist shot high to the glove side after a pass from Teuvo Teravainen.
Rask was perfect in the third period, when Chicago outshot Boston 11-2.
"We didn't keep plays alive, and I think if we let them dictate the game physically like that they'll get more chances," Toews said. "They obviously got a lead on us and it's a tough one to come back from, especially when they're working really well."