Bruins top Blackhawks, win 11th straight at home to tie NHL record

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins tied an NHL record by winning their 11th straight game at home to begin the season, 6-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on Saturday.

The Bruins tied the record previously set by the 1963-64 Blackhawks and 2021-22 Florida Panthers.
"It's a special team," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said. "We have a lot of depth, and I think it shows. Everyone is contributing, everyone is valued, and I think everyone has confidence, and I think that's the biggest thing, right?"

David Pastrnak scored twice, Charlie McAvoy had four assists, and Brad Marchand had three assists for Boston (16-2-0), which has won six straight. Bergeron had a goal and an assist to reach 999 NHL points, and Jeremy Swayman made 17 saves in his first game since Nov. 1 because of a lower-body injury.
"It was a pretty dominant performance," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "Right from the start, we played pretty well. If you have to get picky, I think we got a little careless with the puck. We tried to get too perfect because we had the puck so much, but it was a really good game."
Jonathan Toews scored, and Petr Mrazek made 37 saves for Chicago (6-8-3), which has lost three straight.
"[The Bruins are] well coached and they have great leadership," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "We've shown that at times this year. We have to be a little bit more consistent at it, and that's what Boston is. They're really consistent at it every night, every shift. They're hard to play against."

Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 4:53 of the first period with a one-timer from the right circle on a power play. After a flurry of shots on Mrazek, Marchand connected with Pastrnak on a cross-ice pass in the final seconds of the man-advantage.
Bergeron made it 2-0 at 4:28 of the second period with a one-timer from the left face-off circle.
Toews cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:37. Max Domi's point shot deflected off Toews' stick over Swayman's right shoulder.
"We had moments where we were controlling the play pretty good," Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi said. "I know the score was what it was, but even earlier on in the game when it was a 2-1 game, we had moments where we're hanging on to the puck a little more. We're looking to make plays, we're not looking to give the puck away. That's something we have to bring a little bit more consistently."

Jake DeBrusk made it 3-1 at 18:10 on a power play, tipping in Marchand's pass on the doorstep. McAvoy set up the play to get the secondary assist.
"Couple of fun shifts, just trying to make some stuff happen," McAvoy said. "Feeling confident with the puck. Legs feel good, brain feels good. Trying to move quick and use my first reads. It's certainly easy when you're playing with guys with this much skill."
David Krejci pushed it to 4-1 with 41 seconds left in the second on a slap shot from the right face-off circle.
"I don't think we played it with enough confidence," Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy said. "We let them kind of dictate plays and cycle around our zone, and we weren't staying close and together defending, and sometimes when we were able to get stops, we were a little too panicky and gave up too many pucks."

Pastrnak made it 5-1 on a 2-on-1 rush with Nick Foligno at 11:12 of the third period, and Taylor Hall scored from the high slot at 17:57 for the 6-1 final.
Boston outshot Chicago 43-18.
"We're playing well, so we have to be happy with that," Marchand said. "But again, we need to be better and continue to be better. As the season goes on, teams get more dialed in their defensive play and stakes raise a little bit as you get towards the playoffs, so we need to continue to elevate."
NOTES:Pastrnak, Marchand and Bergeron factored in on the same goal for the 88th time, the second-most by a trio in Bruins history behind Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito and Wayne Cashman (103). … Only three defensemen in Bruins history recorded more assists in a game than McAvoy: Bobby Orr (six, Jan. 1, 1973 and five, Dec. 20, 1969), Glen Wesley (five on Oct. 16, 1988) and Ray Bourque (five on Feb, 18, 1990; five on Jan. 2, 1994).