Rask reaches milestone, Bruins shut out Wild for fifth win in row

BOSTON --Tuukka Rask made 24 saves to earn his 250th NHL win, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-0 at TD Garden on Tuesday.

It was his first shutout of the season and 42nd in the NHL. Rask (250-145-55) is two wins shy of tying Tiny Thompson for most in Bruins history.
"I've been lucky enough to be part of good teams and that's pretty much what it comes down to," said Rask, who is 4-0-0 with a .959 save percentage in his past four starts. "I think I've been fortunate to play here, so I'm happy."
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Bruins highlights]
Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and two assists, and John Moore and Torey Krug each had two assists for the Bruins (25-14-4), who have won a season-high five games in a row and are 8-2-0 in their past 10.
Alex Stalock made 23 saves in his first start since Dec. 6 for the Wild (21-18-3), who had won three in a row, including 1-0 against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

"You could tell there was a little bit of fatigue, and they had a good game plan," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They came out right after us and when they scored the first couple goals, when you're a tired team, sometimes you don't have the energy to come back."
Danton Heinen scored on a tip-in of Moore's initial shot from the right side of the slot at 5:23 of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
Marchand extended the lead to 2-0 at 11:29 on a rebound off the end boards after Bergeron's one-timer from the high slot went wide.
Jake DeBrusk scored a power-play goal after Bergeron's point shot deflected in off his chest at 19:15 to make it 3-0.
"I didn't know if it was going to hit me in the face or I didn't know what was going to happen," DeBrusk said. "So I just kind of originally wanted to tip it and I was going to and I just saw it kind of coming near the crossbar I guess, and I just kind of turned. To be honest, I don't really know what I did, it just kind of went in. It was nice to see that one go in and obviously pretty shocked for sure."

Minnesota outshot Boston 12-5 in the second period but wasn't able to get one past Rask.
"He was under control all night," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I thought we did a good job keeping everything clear for him for the most part. Limited sustained pressure against, I think that helps. So he was just clean, like the group in front of him. I think we've been playing good team defense."
Bergeron made it 4-0 at 6:24 of the second period after Marchand's pass to the slot went in off his left skate on the power play.
"Obviously, you're disappointed with the result tonight," Minnesota forward Eric Staal said. "But we had some good wins this trip ... we've got to take that home with us."

They said it

"Our power play was about as bad as we've had it all year (0-for-3, zero shots). I think we had three in the first period and I don't know if we had possession in the zone one time." -- Minnesota forward Jason Zucker
"I think we're in sync. We're working together but also we're aggressive. You know we're closing early and frequently, and I think that's what helps us not spend too much time in our zone and when we do, it seems like it's a lot of the outside [attempts]. You know, Tuukka [Rask has] made some great saves, and overall, I thought up front and defensively guys have done a good job to let him see the puck." -- Bruins center Patrice Bergeron on the defense

Need to know

Boston has outscored its opponents 19-9 during its win streak. … Minnesota had won its past four road games. … It was Boston's first shutout in 23 games against Minnesota.

What's next

Wild:Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Bruins:Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NESN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)